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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24464833">Take Me with You, Take Me Home</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheKingOfBabylon/pseuds/TheKingOfBabylon'>TheKingOfBabylon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019), Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aliens and Werewolves, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Injury, Canon Disabled Character, Canon Queer Character, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mystery, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sharing a Bed, Team Roswell goes to Beacon Hills, Telekinesis, The Hale Pack - Freeform, Threesome - M/M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:20:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>44,092</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24464833</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheKingOfBabylon/pseuds/TheKingOfBabylon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Who the HELL are you?" Alex shouted, his gun trained on the midnight intruders. Michael and Kyle sat up next to him in the bed, waking in the commotion. They stared at the new comers, angry and confused.</p><p>"WHAT the hell are you?" One of the strangers replied from the shadows, eyes suddenly glowing yellow.</p><p>or</p><p>Michael, Alex, and Kyle decide to go investigate another abandoned prison, this time in Beacon Hills, California. But when they get there, they find about a thousand things they never expected. They went looking for clues about Project Shepard and the other aliens but what they found was so much more.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Allison Argent/Isaac Lahey/Scott McCall, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Max Evans/Liz Ortecho, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes/Kyle Valenti</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>67</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>160</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>You don't need to know much about Teen Wolf to read this other than the fact that some of the characters are werewolves or other supernatural creatures.</p><p>This mostly follows Roswell season 1 canon and picks up after that. The only super different thing is that Michael, Kyle, and Alex are in a relationship and have been since Caufield.</p><p>Let me know if you want me to add any tags. Rating may go up.</p><p>Thanks.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alex entered The Crashdown and looked around. He caught Kyle’s eye and headed over to their usual booth. When he got there he realized with a frown there was nowhere for him to sit as the whole booth was full. He was happy to see his friends, but his leg had been aching all day and he really just wanted to sit down and relax.</p><p>Kyle and Michael took up one side of the booth, Michael in the back corner looking like he was nearly asleep, barely aware of what was going on around him. Alex grimaced again; Michael had been this way now for almost two weeks, ever since Max brought Rosa back to life. He barely ate, or slept, and he talked only when someone made him. Next to him Kyle was talking to Isobel, who had the remains of what looked like a salad in front of her. Both were not-so-subtly checking on Michael while maintaining small talk. Maria rounded out the table, sitting across from Michael, frowning and staring at him, lost in thought.</p><p>They all looked up as Alex got there, well, everyone but Michael.</p><p>“Hey, babe.” Kyle smiled.</p><p>“Hey. You guys figure anything out yet?” Alex asked back. </p><p>“Nah, we figured we would wait for you to talk.” Kyle replied, again looking over toward Michael before looking back at Alex and noticing his grimace.</p><p>“Hey, Alex, how was work?” Isobel asked.</p><p>“It was work. It sucked. How’s Max? That’s what we’re really here to talk about, isn’t it?” Alex said back smiling, before his leg again pulsed with pain and he tried to keep the reaction from his face.</p><p>Kyle noticed, Kyle always noticed. And without saying anything he scooted toward Michael even more, basically squishing him into the wall. Michael didn’t even seem to care, and Alex finally had just enough room to sit down. As soon as he did, Kyle’s hand was on his thigh, massaging it under the table. Alex gave him a grateful smile before he turned back to Isobel.</p><p>“He’s still asleep, but according to Kyle and Liz and from what I can see in his mind, he seems to be getting better slowly.” She said. She frowned and continued, “But, Liz still can’t figure out exactly what’s going on. Max and Michael are definitely linked, but we aren’t sure how or even why at this point.”</p><p>Michael didn’t even look up when his name was mentioned. However, it did get Maria’s attention. She looked over at Alex and her frown turned up a bit.</p><p>“I think Max is taking his energy.” She said, looking back towards Michael again, “Every time Michael goes over there to do tests with Liz he gets worse. And it’s taking longer and longer for him to recover each time.”</p><p>“Yeah, we don’t know for sure,” Kyle started talking again, “but it seems like it really only hurts him, and from what we can tell it’s not exactly helping Max. I think we need to try something else, what we’ve been doing isn’t working.”</p><p>As Kyle started talking, he took his hand off Alex’s leg and looked around at Michael to see if any of their conversation was processing. Michael was still lost in his own head. Alex reached behind Kyle, towards Michael’s shoulder and shook it a bit to get his attention.</p><p>“I understand that, but at this point what haven’t we tried?” Alex said as he shook Michael’s  shoulder again. “Hey! Guerin! Babe! What do you think?”</p><p>Michael finally looked over, his eyes still a bit glassy but seemed to finally understand that Alex was there and they were asking him something.</p><p>“Um, yeah.” He smiled half-heartedly. “Something different, okay.”</p><p>Alex continued to look at him, his eyes turning sad and frowning again when Michael went back to staring into nothing. Alex sighed and turned back to the rest of them. This whole thing was unbelievably frustrating. He needed Michael back, but Michael had made it clear in his moments of lucidity that he wanted to try everything he could to help Max.</p><p>“Okay, we really need to do something about this.” He said. “And fast too, I really need to go and check out that prison in California before Dad’s people get to it and bury everything. But I can’t leave him like this.” Alex frowned again, he felt like he had been repeating himself the last few days. He can’t leave Michael when something is happening between him and Max. But he also knows he only has about a week left before his dad’s people catch wind of what happened at Caufield.  Then they would send someone up there to destroy the place and all the information he needs with it.</p><p>“It’s fine Alex, go, I can take care of things here. We’ll think of something else, or we’ll try severing their connection again.” Kyle sighed.</p><p>“Yeah, I can go back in their minds and try again. I can stay in there longer and try and untangle it all.” Isobel said with a frown. She had tried that before, each time she came back to herself her head would pound for days, and they would be no closer to getting either Michael or Max back to normal.</p><p>“Isobel, you already tried that, it didn’t work the first three times, it isn’t gonna’ work this time.” Alex practically yelled, his frustration getting the better of him.<br/>
“I know!” She whisper-yelled back, looking around to make sure no one was taking notice of them. “But what else can I do, what else is there to try.”</p><p>They were all so discouraged, nothing was working. Kyle took a deep breath before trying again.</p><p>“We will think of something.” He said, almost no hope actually left in his tone at all.</p><p>“Or maybe we don’t.” Maria suddenly jumped in. Her eyes lit up with an idea, “Maybe we stop trying, maybe we take a break. Or more specifically you guys take a break.”</p><p>Alex and Kyle were confused when she pointed over at them.</p><p>“What?” Alex wasn’t in the mood; he wanted answers and solutions, not more ideas that weren’t going to work. And doing nothing definitely wasn’t going to work.</p><p>“Yeah, I think you and Kyle should take Michael and go investigate that prison in Northern California.” She started, talking faster as her new idea formed. “You can get your business done, get Michael away from the whole situation, Kyle will be there just incase anything goes wrong, and you can all just take a break.”</p><p>“What? Maria, no, we can’t just up and leave right now.” Kyle sighed, saying exactly what Alex was thinking.</p><p>“No, I think it’s a good idea.” Isobel agreed with Maria, her eyes widening. “You guys go, get the alien info from the prison, take a break, and since we know Michael gets a bit better the longer he is away from Max, maybe this will help him too.”</p><p>“Yeah, I guess. We could make it work.” Kyle started. “But what about Max?”</p><p>“Liz and I will take care of him.” Isobel grinned. “We will call if anything goes wrong, but I really think you all should go up to California.”</p><p>Alex thought about it, it made some sense, it would let him get his job done, he could get more information about Project Shepard, and hopefully more information about the other aliens too. He gazed back over at Michael and saw him barely awake again. Maybe this could help him as well, get him far away to see if the connection broke or at least lessened. </p><p>“Yeah, I think, I think it could be good.” He pushed Michael’s shoulder again, getting a quicker response this time. “What do you think? Wanna’ get out of Roswell for a bit?”</p><p>Michael looked back between Kyle and Alex. His eyes seemed a bit brighter and more focused again.</p><p>“Yeah, okay. Let’s go.” He tried to grin and nearly managed it this time. Alex squeezed his shoulder and Kyle ran his hand quickly through Michael’s hair before turning back to Isobel and Maria.</p><p>“Okay, we’ll leave in the morning.” Kyle smiled, glancing at Alex to make sure the timeline sounded good to him. Alex nodded back.</p><p>“Yeah, we’ll get an early start. We should be able to get there with only one night in Nevada if we trade off driving.” He felt better and better about this decision as he thought about it. He needed to get stuff done in California but he also knew they all needed a break.</p><p>Decision made all five of them started to get up and go their separate ways, with a lot of prodding of Michael’s arms and legs to get up and out of the booth and to follow them out to their cars.</p><p>“I’ll see you in a week or so, call me at least once please.” Isobel said as she gently hugged Michael. She looked at him sadly, she hated seeing her brother like this.</p><p>“I love you Izzy.” Michael replied. She smiled softly.</p><p>As Isobel walked away to her car, Kyle and Michael piled into Alex’s SUV to go back to the cabin. They needed to pack and sleep before they left the next day.  Michael sat quietly in the passenger seat looking out the window, while both Alex and Kyle looked on hoping this was a good idea.</p><p>After they quickly packed and ate, (well, Alex and Kyle ate, Michael merely nibbled) they all settled into bed for an early night. Michael was in the middle already almost gone, Kyle was behind him running a hand up and down Michael’s back, while Alex slowly took off his prosthetic and rubbed at his leg before getting under the covers.</p><p>He turned and kissed Kyle and then Michael on the lips. Michael gave him a tired smile before he fell asleep. Alex turned off the light and settled in, feeling Kyle’s breath even out as well. He again hoped they were making the right choice. He just couldn’t see Michael like this anymore. </p><p>“Night.” He mumbled, glancing one more time at the two people he loved more than anything, before he too followed them into sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kyle woke to the sound of Alex’s alarm. Looking over to make sure Alex was awake he got a mouth full of curly hair instead, courtesy of Michael. As he started to splutter, he heard Alex softly laugh from the other side of the bed.</p>
<p>	“Oh, shut up.” Kyle said playfully.</p>
<p>	Still chuckling to himself Alex finally turned off the alarm and sat up. Both Alex and Kyle were morning people, thanks to the military and being a doctor. Before two weeks ago, Michael was too, working as a ranch hand will do that for you. However, since everything happened with Max and Rosa, it was down right impossible to get him out of bed in the mornings.</p>
<p>	Alex sighed and turned to start getting out of bed, they needed to get an early start today, if they wanted to drive about twelve hours.</p>
<p>	“Alright, I’ll take first shower, and try and get him up,” Alex pointed to Michael. “If you start on coffee and breakfast, then, we’ll switch, and hopefully get on the road as fast as we can.” Alex turned toward Kyle. After a nod Kyle got up and headed to the kitchen.</p>
<p>	Alex scooted up the bed and slowly ran his hands through Michael’s hair. He started patting Michael’s cheek.</p>
<p>	“Hey sleepy,” He said softly, “time to get up, we gotta’ get an early start this morning.”</p>
<p>	Michael just groaned and smashed his face harder into the pillow. Alex sighed, he hated to see Michael like this. Once so lively and happy to be up, even if he was annoyed, now just lethargic and uninterested all the time.</p>
<p>	“Get up, get up,” He said, louder this time. “If we hurry we can shower together.” Alex offered hoping promises of hot, wet kisses might excite Michael enough to get him up. </p>
<p>	“Okay, okay.” Michael mumbled. Alex smiled as Michael raised his head and started to roll over and get out of bed. His bribery had worked.</p>
<p>	Alex grabbed his crutches and followed Michael’s sedate pace into the bathroom and turned on the water. He set it warm, but not hot, he didn’t want to have a reason for them to stay in there all day. When the water finally warmed he got in and sat down on the bench they had installed in the wall. Michael followed him in a second later, immediately putting his whole head under the spray and swiping at his hair and face.</p>
<p>	“Want me to soap up your back?” Alex asked as Michael turned around and stared washing his front.</p>
<p>	“Yeah, okay.” He handed Alex the soap but before he could turn around again, Alex grabbed his hand and pulled him forward into a kiss. They made out for a minute or two, Alex happy to see Michael interested in the intimacy, before he pulled away. “You said we had to be quick.” Michael smiled.</p>
<p>	“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Alex smiled back. They both quickly washed after that and as they dried off, Kyle came in.</p>
<p>	“Ah, I see you’ve been busy without me.” He joked. “Well, I made coffee, and the toast and eggs are on, so if you don’t want it to burn you better get out there quick.” He said, practically throwing them out of the bathroom, as he got undressed. As Alex left to go put on his prosthetic and clothes, Michael headed to the kitchen to finish up breakfast, still smiling.</p>
<p>	The early morning went by quickly after that. Kyle finished up his shower, and all three ate breakfast and drank too much coffee. About and hour and half after they got up, they were in the car, ready to go to California.</p>
<p>	Alex decided to take the first shift of driving in case his leg got cramped from sitting in the car all day. Alex didn’t think he would be able to drive later and Kyle agreed to take the second shift.</p>
<p>	“You know, we don’t have to stop.” Michael added, as they left down the dirt road, headed away from the cabin, to the road that lead out of Roswell. “I can drive through the night.”</p>
<p>	“No.”</p>
<p>	“Absolutely not.” Alex and Kyle said at the same time.</p>
<p>	“You have been way too tired and sick lately for us to ask you to do that.” Kyle continued.</p>
<p>	“Fine.” Michael agreed, he would normally fight them on this, but he knew they were just looking out for him. And if he was being honest with himself, he didn’t think he could actually make it three hours without sleep, let alone trying to drive all night. </p>
<p>	The car became quiet as the three all settled in for a long drive, and after a few miles of desert, and despite the coffee, Michael was lulled to sleep.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>	He woke up to whispering. Alex and Kyle talking in the front seat. Michael opened his eyes but stayed in the same position and realized he couldn’t have been napping for more than and hour or so.</p>
<p>	“I know, but I just think we should wait and see.” Kyle was saying.</p>
<p>	“That’s all we have been doing.” Alex replied, still with his voice down, trying not to disturb Michael’s nap.</p>
<p>	“Babe, I get it. I’m worried about him too, but we <i>are</i> doing something. We are getting him away from everything, and hopefully, that will help.” Kyle said, trying to calm Alex.</p>
<p>	Michael realized they were talking about him, hashing out the same argument he had heard them talking about over the past two weeks. He sighed quietly, wishing they would just leave it alone, yes he was sick and tired but he also knew he would do anything to help Max, and if this was the trade-off, he was okay with it.</p>
<p>	As he thought about it though, Michael realized he was actually feeling better than he had in a while.</p>
<p>	“Hey,” He said from the back seat of Alex’s SUV, causing Kyle to jump.</p>
<p>	“Michael.” Kyle turned around. “How are you feeling?” </p>
<p>	“I’m actually feeling pretty good. I think our guess was right. The farther I get from Roswell the better I’m feeling.”</p>
<p>	“That seems good.” Alex said, looking back at Michael in the rearview mirror.</p>
<p>	Michael smiled back, and as the day went on and they stopped for lunch he actually did feel better and better the farther he got from Roswell and Max.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They drove through a lot of desert. None of them said much as the day went on, all just waiting to get there, hoping they would find answers. </p>
<p>When they finally decided to stop for the night it was at a motel on the side of the road, about an hour south of Las Vegas (Michael advocated for a night in Vegas but Alex and Kyle only rolled their eyes at that suggestion).  A big sign for Grasshopper Junction led the way to a single gas station, a 24-hour diner, and finally, the only place to get a room for the next 60 miles, The Rosebud Inn.</p>
<p>“I’ll go grab us a room, you guys get the bags.” Alex said, taking charge. He limped into the front office, his leg cramped from the car ride, just like he thought might happen. At the front desk sat a bored looking woman, reading a book. She looked up as Alex entered.</p>
<p>“Yeah?” She said, staring at him with an annoyed face. </p>
<p>“Uh, yeah,” Alex looked at her strangely, surprised by her demeanor, “can I get a room?”</p>
<p>“This is a motel, so… yeah.” She replied, rolling her eyes.</p>
<p>Alex almost laughed. Who was this woman.</p>
<p>“Okay… one room with a king bed if you got it, just for the night.” He said, handing over his card.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” she looked at him again. “I got a king room, room 12, down at the end.” She said as she swiped his card and handed it back. She turned around and grabbed the key, handing it over as well. “Have a good night. Checkout is at 11. Warmest regards.”</p>
<p>Alex nearly laughed again as he took the key, this girl was strange. He headed back outside and waved Kyle over to park by room 12, they all went in and set their bags down.</p>
<p>“Well, there’s a diner next door, how about dinner?” Kyle said as he threw his bag on the table next to the bathroom.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I could eat a whole cow.” Michael said, causing Alex and Kyle to both look up and stare. Michael grabbed his cowboy hat and put it on. “What? I’m hungry.” </p>
<p>“Well, you heard him, let’s eat.” Alex said with a smile. He was unbelievably glad that their expectation, that Michael would get better the farther away he got from Max, seemed to be coming true.</p>
<p>They walked over to the 24-hour diner and grabbed a booth. Michael sat across from Kyle and Alex feeling hungrier than he had in two weeks. He looked at the menu and absentmindedly flexed his left hand before he turned back to the other two.</p>
<p>“Okay, so what’s the plan for tomorrow, for this prison?” Michael asked, getting right to the point.</p>
<p>Alex and Kyle smiled, realizing Michael must be feeling much better if he was asking questions.</p>
<p>Kyle snorted.</p>
<p>“Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better. God, it’s been so boring without your cowboy swagger.” Kyle said, smiling back.</p>
<p>“Okay, harsh, but really, are we going in guns blazing or are we doing the whole stealth thing?” Michael continued, ignoring Kyle’s jab with a slight smile.</p>
<p>“We are definitely not going in ‘guns blazing’” Alex said, rolling his eyes. “Even with all the information I could find about the prison, I couldn’t find its exact location. So, I think once we get there our first job will be to go to the library, or the local police, and figure out exactly where it is.”</p>
<p>“You don’t know where it is?” Michael said, his eyes wide.</p>
<p>“It’s a secret prison Guerin. They usually don’t yell their locations from the rooftops.”</p>
<p>“Ugh, fine. So, first figure out where it is, then what?” Michael continued.</p>
<p>Before Alex could answer Kyle cleared his throat and tilted his head to the waitress that had just come by to take their orders.  After telling her what they wanted, Michael ordering both a burger and a stack of pancakes, they got back to figuring out the game plan.</p>
<p>“Well, once we figure out more info about where it is, I think we should drive by and check to make sure there isn’t any security lurking around. Then we can infiltrate and get our information. Then… we destroy the rest.” Alex said.</p>
<p>“Sounds good.” Kyle nodded. Kyle knew he wasn’t really here to be backup for Alex. Alex didn’t really need backup; Kyle was here to be a doctor and a boyfriend. Alex was the military man, he knew how to infiltrate and what information they were looking for. Michael was the alien, he was there to find out more about where he came from and the aliens that died at Caulfield. Kyle was just there to help them, be there for them.</p>
<p>“Fine, with that figured out. What have I missed the last two weeks?” Michael continued. Alex and Kyle filled him in as their food arrived and they ate. He let their voices wash over him, thinking about just how lucky he was to have them. Just how lucky that he managed to find these two people that he loved so much.</p>
<p>They walked back over to the motel after dinner. It was still a bit too early to sleep so Michael settled in the middle of the bed and switched on the TV, while Alex got out his computer to do some work, and Kyle checked his work messages on his phone.</p>
<p>Michael was content, he looked at both of them with a secret little smile. It took so long to finally feel like this, he thought, and he actually felt happy. He looked over as Kyle moved to sit next to him on the bed.</p>
<p>Kyle took Michael’s left hand in his, and started looking at it.</p>
<p>“Leave it alone.” Michael said, pulling it away.</p>
<p>“You’ve been clenching it all day.” Kyle said, taking his hand back and starting to massage it. </p>
<p>“God, you’re such a doctor.” Michael said, rolling his eyes, but letting him do it anyway.</p>
<p>Alex smiled over at them.</p>
<p>“I’m gonna’ grab a quick shower.” Alex said, wanting some hot water to loosen up his muscles before he went to bed.</p>
<p>Neither Kyle nor Michael even looked up from their bickering over Michael’s hand, or as Alex liked to think of it: their fight flirting. He left them to it.</p>
<p>As Kyle was massaging Michael’s hand he started kissing up his arm until finally he nuzzled against his neck. Michael was only too happy to start kissing back, slowly corralling Kyle’s mouth towards his own.</p>
<p>As their mouths met, Michael smiled into Kyle’s kisses. They both started giggling and they continued to make out.</p>
<p>“God, I missed this.” Kyle panted.</p>
<p>Michael pulled back, looking sad. “Sorry.” He mumbled.</p>
<p>“Not your fault, babe.” Kyle said, diving back into Michael’s mouth. This time pushing his tongue against Michael’s. Michael responded by nipping at his lower lip and pulling Kyle on top of him as he sat back against the pillows. His quick bout of sadness, over the neglect of his partners the past two weeks, quickly forgotten.</p>
<p>After a few minutes they heard Alex’s crutches as he came back in from the shower.</p>
<p>“Oh, I see, you wait for me to leave before you get to the hot stuff.” Alex said joking.</p>
<p>“You got him this morning.” Kyle replied quickly before going back to kissing.</p>
<p>“Okay, okay, boys. No fighting, you can both have me.” Michael said, cupping Kyle’s head as he attempted to suck a mark onto his neck. He then lifted his hand and crooked a finger towards Alex, calling him to join them in bed.</p>
<p>Alex went over and jumped in on Michael’s other side. He joined Kyle at Michael’s neck, kissing it, before slowly moving down his body.</p>
<p>“Fuck, that feels amazing.” Michael whispered.  He smiled again, as his two favorite people continued to make him feel incredible.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Please let me know if I've missed any tags you would like me to include. </p>
<p>I swear we will get to the Teen Wolf boys soon. </p>
<p>Feedback is much appreciated, as this is my first fic that I have published.</p>
<p>Love to all.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Michael woke the next morning in peace. Surprised he was the first one awake for a change. Kyle was behind him breathing into his back, while Alex had managed to fall asleep on top of Michael and remain there the entire night.</p>
<p>	Michael attempted to dislodge Alex so he could go to the bathroom without waking his partners, but got a grunt instead.</p>
<p>	“No.” Alex mumbled, squeezing Michael tighter under him.</p>
<p>	“Cute, but I gotta’ pee.” Michael whispered, wiggling to get out of bed.</p>
<p>	As Michael was finally able to sit up and scoot to the edge of the bed, Kyle’s and Alex’s alarms went off simultaneously. Michael snorted, as the other two grunted and turned to their respective phones to silence the angry noises.</p>
<p>	Looking back as he went to the bathroom, Michael was again struck with just how lucky he was. As he saw Kyle and Alex do mundane things, like turn off alarms or bicker about who had to make coffee, his affection for them only grew. </p>
<p>	They got an early start again, so they could hopefully make it to Northern California before dark. As Kyle and Michael were packing up the car to get on the road, Alex came out of the room on his crutches, heading to the front office to check out.</p>
<p>	“No leg today?” Michael asked. He had learned a while ago never to question why Alex chose not to wear the prosthetic sometimes. But he also learned if he asked in an off-handed way, Alex would often offer up an explanation anyway. Alex didn’t like to be pushed, so Michael had been trying to remember they weren’t teenagers anymore, and that he didn’t have to protect Alex.</p>
<p>	“Yeah, just figured we’re just sitting in the car all day again.” He said over his shoulder, shrugging, as he made his way down to the office. “Might as well leave if off.”</p>
<p>	When Alex entered the front office again, he expected to just drop off the key in a box or something, but instead the same girl from last night was still sitting behind the desk.</p>
<p>	“Hey, room 12 checking out.” Alex said.</p>
<p>	“Great, I’ll alert the media.” She said, sounding as if Alex had personally wronged her by merely existing.</p>
<p>	Alex snorted and tossed the key on the counter.</p>
<p>	“Well, thanks.” He said, confused yet again by this grumpy woman.</p>
<p>	“Best wishes on the rest of your journey.” She continued with a smirk, as Alex left, still bewildered by the woman.</p>
<p>	When he got outside, Kyle had already pulled up and was waiting for him, with Michael again in the back.</p>
<p>	“Hey man, switch with me.” Alex said to Michael through the window. “I wanna’ stretch out.”</p>
<p>	“You sure you’re okay?” Michael asked as he jumped out of the car and back into the front seat.</p>
<p>	“Yep.” Alex said in a clipped tone.</p>
<p>	As they got back out onto the open road, towards California, Alex opened his computer to do a bit more research on the town they were headed to.</p>
<p>	“So, from what I can tell, the town closest to where the prison is reported to be is a place called Beacon Hills.  Seems like a quaint place, and except for some unexplained animal deaths a few years ago, it seems to be quiet when it comes to crime. They have a sheriff’s department…” Alex stared before Kyle interrupted.</p>
<p>	“Unexplained animal deaths? What the hell does that mean?” He asked from the driver’s seat.</p>
<p>	“Uhhhh,” Alex scrolled back up to that part of his research. “Seven deaths under weird circumstances, all within a few months. Originally thought to be a mountain lion, but was later reported to look more like a wolf attack. Still officially considered an open case, because of the suspicious circumstances surrounding one of the attacks that took place inside a school. Also, apparently one of the bodies was found cut in half.”</p>
<p>	“There are no more wolves in California.” Michael said. “Also, cut in half? Doesn’t really sound like an animal attack.”</p>
<p>	“Well, either way, it was years ago, and the only major thing to happen since then, according to their local newspaper, was that their lacrosse team won some state title.”</p>
<p>	“What the fuck is lacrosse?” Michael asked.</p>
<p>	“A sport, Guerin. I swear if I didn’t know how badly you grew up, I would find everything you say worrying.” Kyle quipped.</p>
<p>	“Again, harsh. What’s with the ‘being-mean-to-Michael’ thing?” Michael asked, a little put off.</p>
<p>	“I guess I just missed your sour face and a person to bicker with.” Kyle smiled back.</p>
<p>	“Your face is sour.” Michael muttered.</p>
<p>	“Alright boys.” Alex rolled his eyes. “Other than that, the town seems nice, I have already located the local library and a hotel we can stay at. Depending on when we get in tonight we’ll figure out the game plan for research and covert ops.”</p>
<p>	“Covert ops?” Michael laughed. “Okay, military man.”</p>
<p>	“Michael, I know you just started feeling better, but I need you to take this seriously. The prison should be abandoned but just incase, I need you to be on high alert, so we don’t have another Caulfield.” Alex said, annoyed.</p>
<p>	“I am taking this seriously Alex. I want some answers about my people.” Michael insisted. “I want to find more information, to take down Project Shepard. But, I can’t just be all serious like you all the time.”</p>
<p>	Alex frowned but let it drop. Is that what Michael thought? Was Alex too serious all the time?</p>
<p>	“On a more fun note,” Kyle said diplomatically, trying to steer the conversation away from implosion. “We are just about to get to Las Vegas.”</p>
<p>	“I can’t believe you guys out voted me on staying the night there.” Michael whined. </p>
<p>	“Do you even like Las Vegas?” Kyle asked.</p>
<p>	“Never been.” Michael replied, looking out the window towards the oncoming lights, visible for miles even in the daylight.</p>
<p>	They lapsed into silence after that. Kyle continued to drive through the desert. Alex continued to research on his computer, while Michael leaned back, took Kyle’s phone, and started playing online poker to Kyle’s exasperation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>	A few hours later they stopped at a gas station to fill up and use the bathroom. When they headed back to the car, Alex grabbed his hand controls from the trunk, installed them on the wheel and peddles and took over driving for the day. Michael had attempted to get either Kyle or Alex to let him drive, but was shut down yet again.</p>
<p>	So, instead, he grumbled and sat in the backseat, ready to be bored for the next hundred miles. Just as he was beginning to shut his eyes and pull his hat down over his face, Michael’s phone started ring.</p>
<p>	“It’s Isobel.” He said to Kyle, who had looked back at the sound. “I should probably answer.”</p>
<p>	“Tell her we’re still like five hours out.” Kyle said before turning back around.</p>
<p>	Michael swiped the phone to answer the call.</p>
<p>	“Hey, Izzy.” Michael answered.</p>
<p>	“Hey love.” She said quietly. “How are you?”</p>
<p>	“I’m actually feeling a lot better.” Michael replied. “I think we were right, the farther I get from Max the better I feel.”</p>
<p>	“Oh, that’s great.” Isobel said back.</p>
<p>	“How is Max?” Michael asked.</p>
<p>	“That’s actually what I called about.” She began. Michael’s stomach dropped.</p>
<p>	“What? Izzy, is he okay?” Michael asked a bit frantically. Kyle looked back again at Michael’s tone. He waved off Kyle’s concern so that he could hear what Isobel had to say.</p>
<p>	“Yeah, yeah, sorry.” She placated. “He’s fine. Well, not fine, but not worse.”</p>
<p>	“Oh, okay. So, what’s up?” Michael breathed a sigh of relief.</p>
<p>	“Well, he isn’t really progressing.” She continued. “Like, when you were here, he was getting better everyday, but now it seems like he’s just been the same since you left.”</p>
<p>	“What??” Michael nearly yelled. “Why didn’t you tell me? I can come back.”</p>
<p>	“No, Michael. Listen to me.” Isobel interrupted before Michael could freak out even more. “I said it seems that way. Liz says that he is actually still getting better, it’s just that he isn’t getting better as fast as he was before. And when I go into his head I don’t see him, but Liz said he was okay.”</p>
<p>	“Wait, what? So, he is okay?” Michael asked, still a little confused about what Isobel was trying to tell him.</p>
<p>	“Yeah, he’s okay. I think you were helping him heal faster somehow, but he is still doing fine, still getting better.” Isobel tried to explain.</p>
<p>	“Well, that’s good. But I should still come back right? I mean, if me being there was helping him. I’m not sure, maybe I can rent a car in the next big city we get to, and… and I should be able to get back by tomorrow.” Michael started talking more to himself than Isobel.</p>
<p>	This again caused the other two in the car to look back at him.</p>
<p>	“What? Michael?” Alex asked, as Kyle looked at him questioningly.</p>
<p>	“I need to get back to Roswell.” Michael replied quickly.</p>
<p>	“No, no.” Isobel said loudly, trying to regain Michael’s attention. “Michael, did you not hear me? I said he is still getting better, you do not need to come back here right now.”</p>
<p>	“What are you talking about?” Kyle asked.</p>
<p>	“Ugh, I’m having two different conversations now. Hold on Kyle.” Michael said anxiously. “Isobel,” He said back into the phone. “Of course I’m coming back.”</p>
<p>	“No. Michael, listen to me.” She said, in what Michael called her ‘serious’ voice. “Are you listening?”</p>
<p>	“Yes, I’m listening.” Michael replied, rolling his eyes, annoyed.</p>
<p>	“I need you to go with Kyle and Alex, okay?” She continued, once she knew she had his full attention. “Because if you come back here, I will have two sick brothers instead of just Max. I need you to take a break, because I can’t see you like that again. And, Max is OKAY. He is still getting better, you need to take care of yourself right now. Okay?”</p>
<p>	Michael stopped and thought about that for a moment. He knew he would do anything for Max, but Isobel was right. If, they were both sick and miserable, would that actually be any better? He had only felt better for a day, but recognized how much he didn’t want to go back to how he felt the past two weeks. He knows Alex and Kyle would be mad at him for going back too. He sighed, coming to a decision.</p>
<p>	“Yeah, Iz.” He relented. “Yeah, okay. But you need to text me. You gotta’ let me know if he gets any worse or if I need to come back for any reason. Okay?”</p>
<p>	“I will. I will, I promise.” She said, calm and quiet again. “Where are you anyway, how far from where you’re staying?”</p>
<p>	Michael looked out the window and saw a mileage sign.</p>
<p>	“Uhh, Kyle said we were about five hours out, and we just passed a sign for Walker Lake. So, where ever that is.” Michael replied, heart slowly going back to normal.</p>
<p>	“Alright, well, text me when you get in tonight.” She said. “I need to get back to Max, but I promise I’ll text.”</p>
<p>	“Okay.” Michael agreed. “I love you.”</p>
<p>	“Love you too, Mikey.” She said, a smile in her voice.</p>
<p>	“Ugh.” Michael groaned, hating that nickname. “Bye.”<br/>	“Bye.” Isobel said before hanging up.</p>
<p>	Michael put his phone down and looked up. Kyle was still looking back at him, concern in his eyes. Michael gave him a small smile.</p>
<p>	“Everything alright?” Kyle asked.</p>
<p>	“Yeah,” Michael began, clearing his throat. “Isobel says Max is still getting better, but apparently I was helping him get better faster, so now he’s just healing at a slower rate.”</p>
<p>	“Oh, well, that makes sense.” Kyle said. </p>
<p>	“Yeah, she says Liz is monitoring him, says he’s still getting better.” Michael repeated, more for his own comfort than for Kyle’s.</p>
<p>	“Liz knows what she’s doing Michael.” Kyle said calmly. “I really don’t think you should go back.”</p>
<p>	“Yeah, I think that’s a bad idea, babe.” Alex added.</p>
<p>	“That’s what Isobel said.” Michael agreed. “She practically said she would kill me if I came back right now. So, I guess you’re stuck with me for a while longer.” Michael tried for a joke.</p>
<p>	“Michael.” Alex groaned. “You know we love you, we want you to be here. I know it was a joke but I really think it’s the right move right now. You were miserable, and we can’t see you like that again.”</p>
<p>	“Yeah.” Kyle agreed. “I think it’s good you are here with us for now.”</p>
<p>	“I know, I’m just worried.” Michael admitted.</p>
<p>	“Isobel or Liz will call if there are any problems.” Kyle smiled back at him, trying to reassure his partner.</p>
<p>	“I know.” Michael smiled at him, appreciating both Kyle and Alex trying to comfort him.</p>
<p>	Michael went back to looking out the window at the vast desert they were driving through. He heard Kyle start to snore quietly from the front seat after a few miles.</p>
<p>	“Take a nap, we’ll get there faster.” Alex said, looking at him in the rearview mirror.</p>
<p>	Michael snorted quietly at Alex’s lame attempt at a joke. Then he slowly submitted and fell into a gentle snooze.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>	When Michael woke up again they were stopped. He looked around and saw that Kyle and Alex had left the car and were headed into the rest stop, to go to the bathroom. He waited for them to start walking back before getting out of the car and leaning against the side.</p>
<p>	“We close?” Michael called toward the other two.</p>
<p>	“Yeah, about an hour out.” Alex replied. “Think you could take over driving?”</p>
<p>	“Oh, you’re letting me drive?” Michael mocked.</p>
<p>	“Yeah, yeah, you’re hilarious.” Alex rolled his eyes, “Let me get these controls out and we can get going. God, it’s been a long day, I’m ready to be there.” He continued, as he removed his hand controls, put them back in the trunk, and got back in the backseat.</p>
<p>	As Michael got them back on the main road, Kyle pulled up the map on his phone.</p>
<p>	“We should go right through Beacon Hills if we stay on this road. It looks like the hotel is just right off this road too.” Kyle said to Michael. “We’re gonna’ get in a little late, but it looks like the town is big enough that it will have a few places still open.”</p>
<p>	“Yeah, we didn’t make the best time today.” Alex contributed from the back seat. “So, we’ll head to the library first thing in the morning, to see what local newspapers and history has on the prison.”</p>
<p>	“Okay, sounds good. I vote we pick up some food on the way to the hotel. We can get to bed early.” Michael agreed.</p>
<p>	“How have we become so boring?” Kyle laughed. “Aren’t we like, supposed to party or go to a bar or something on vacation?”</p>
<p>	“We’re not really on ‘vacation’” Alex said, with air quotes. “But if you really want to we can probably find a bar in town, maybe go a few nights from now.”</p>
<p>	“Might be nice.” Kyle continued. “I guess I just want us to relax a little while we’re here.”</p>
<p>	“I’m not sure that’s possible.” Michael said quietly.</p>
<p>	Kyle rolled his eyes at the comment, but decided to make it his mission to get Michael and Alex to relax while they were in Beacon Hills. Even if it was only for one night.</p>
<p>	“One of my guys just sent me the satellite images of the area.” Alex said, computer open again. “From these, it looks like the prison is a half hour of so outside of town. There looks to be a little road through the middle of the forest, and that’s the only way to get there. So, it should be pretty easy to check if there is any security still hanging around.”</p>
<p>	“Okay, so we can head there in the morning instead.” Michael replied, wanting to get his answers as quickly as possible.</p>
<p>	“Nah, I would rather still go and do some research first.” Alex said, not looking up from the satellite photos he finally had to peruse. </p>
<p>	 Michael let out a irritated groan. “Fine.” Both Alex and Kyle smiled at Michael’s frustration, knowing he was just ready to take action.</p>
<p>	When they finally hit the edge of town, Michael started looking for a place to eat, and kept his eyes peeled for the sign for the hotel.</p>
<p>	“Look, a diner.” Michael pointed. “I can go in and grab us some food real quick.” </p>
<p>	“Yeah, sound good.” Alex said distractedly, still consumed by his laptop. “Get me a sandwich or something.”</p>
<p>	“Yeah, will do.” Michael replied, parking outside of the diner and turning off the car. “What do you want Kyle?”</p>
<p>	“Get me something with chicken.” Kyle replied, he too a bit distracted, by work e-mails on his phone.</p>
<p>	“Okay, be back in a few.” Michael said as he headed inside. </p>
<p>	Once he put in the orders and was standing waiting for the food to come out, he shot off a text to Isobel, telling her they got into town okay. He then looked around. There were a few people sitting at the booths and at the counter. As, he people watched for a few minutes, he noticed a younger guy. He had curly dark blonde hair and kept looking up at Michael every few minutes, confusion in his eyes. He looked a bit surprised by Michael, and kept sticking his nose slightly in the air. Michael was just about to go over and ask what was wrong with the guy when the waitress called his name. He grabbed the food, and with one last look at the weird man headed back out to the car.</p>
<p>	They found the hotel a few minutes later, Alex going in, again on his crutches, to get them a room.</p>
<p>	“Room 117.” Alex said as they parked and headed in with their bags.</p>
<p>	As they found the room, Kyle’s nose flared.</p>
<p>	“Alex.” He said, glaring.</p>
<p>	“What?” Alex asked, feigning confusion.</p>
<p>	“Alex, why do you do this?” Kyle sighed. “Go back and get a different room, at least with a bigger bathroom, even if I know you won’t ask for a handicapped room.”</p>
<p>	“Kyle.” Michael said.</p>
<p>	“What? He always does this.” Kyle said annoyed.</p>
<p>	“He’s an adult, stop trying to manage him.” Michael said, both now ignoring Alex’s angry look.</p>
<p>	“Yeah, but we could be here for a few nights.” Kyle continued. “I didn’t say anything last night because we were only going to be there for one night.”</p>
<p>	“Kyle!” Alex called, angrily getting their attention again. “I’ll go get another stupid room!”</p>
<p>	Alex left them furiously. Michael grabbed his and Alex’s bags and went out into the small hallway to wait for Alex to come back with a new key. </p>
<p>	“I get it. You are a doctor, but, you gotta’ stop with him.” Michael began. “I go along with your bullying about my hand, cause I know you mean well, and I don’t really care. But Alex isn’t like me.”</p>
<p>	“Oh, so, sorry, I didn’t realize caring about him was the worst thing in the world.” Kyle said sarcastically.</p>
<p>	“Kyle, stop being a bitch.” Michael said, rolling his eyes again. “You know that isn’t what this is about. Alex hasn’t fully gotten comfortable with his leg yet. Like, I know he makes it seem like it doesn’t bother him, but you making him ask for help is gonna’ drive him nuts.”</p>
<p>	“Yeah, yeah,” Kyle brushed off. “You’ve said that before, I’m just annoyed because, he knows how important his health is. He’s just being stubborn.”</p>
<p>	“Look who’s talking.” Michael quipped back.</p>
<p>	“If Alex and I are stubborn, you’re immovable.” Kyle said, levity back in his voice.</p>
<p>	“Alright, fine, but about this, I’m right.” Michael said back as Alex came down the hallway again, frown still firmly on his face.</p>
<p>	“121, just a couple doors down.” He said through his teeth.</p>
<p>	They got into the second room, this one with a much bigger bathroom, and more room to move around the bed. Alex glared at Kyle before heading into the bathroom and shutting the door. They all ate quietly before taking turns in the shower, after that.</p>
<p>	“He’s just being Kyle.” Michael whispered, Alex next to him in the bed reading something on his phone. They were waiting for Kyle to finish in the bathroom so they could turn in for the night.</p>
<p>	“I know,” Alex said, tension still marring his features. “But sometimes its like he thinks we’re still back in high school.”</p>
<p>	“Yeah, but he’s trying.” Michael said. And he knew it was true, Kyle couldn’t just turn off his overbearing care for others, but he was trying to be more respectful towards Alex and Michael’s need for space in those matters. They grew up with almost no one looking out for them, so Kyle’s intensity was taking some time to adjust to.</p>
<p>	Kyle came back into the room then, he got in the bed on the other side of Michael, and turned off his bedside lamp.</p>
<p>	Alex leaned over Michael and took Kyle’s hand and squeezed it, forgiveness in the gesture.</p>
<p>	“Love you.” Alex said before turning off the other lamp and settling in for the night.</p>
<p>	“Love you.” Kyle replied. He sat up and kissed Michael and then Alex before laying back down for bed.</p>
<p>	Michael turned to Alex and kissed him for a long moment, before he too snuggled down into the pillows.</p>
<p>	“Night.” He murmured. Knowing in the morning, all would, most likely, be forgiven. The morning would also hopefully be the start to more answers for Michael, about where he came from, and bring some peace of mind to all of them.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>People have asked. The motel at the end of the last chapter and the beginning of this one is based on the Rosebud Inn from Schitt's Creek. And the front desk woman is based on Stevie from that show. If you haven't seen Schitt's Creek I cannot recommend it enough.</p>
<p>If you caught it, they did meet one of the Hale pack in this chapter. If not, just know I swear they are coming in the next chapter.</p>
<p>Kudos and Comments are loved and appreciated.</p>
<p>Love to all.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next morning Kyle was the first up, he had already made coffee by the time the other two had even begun to stir in the bed. Michael and Alex got up slowly and puttered around getting ready, all the while, Kyle sat nervously bouncing his leg.</p><p>	Kyle cleared his throat a few times, getting ready to talk before closing his mouth again. He kept his gaze on Alex the entire time, missing Michael’s eye rolls.</p><p>	“Kyle!” Alex exploded. “I forgive you, stop being so jumpy this morning.”</p><p>	Kyle stopped bouncing his leg, looked again at Alex and gave a slight grin.</p><p>	“I’m just trying to figure out how to say sorry, while maintaining my doctorly duties.” Kyle said quietly.</p><p>	“What?” Alex asked, completely confused.</p><p>	“I’m sorry for treating you like a kid, I really am. But at the same time I need you to know and understand how important your health is. I need you to take it more seriously, but I also know I need to back off.” Kyle continued.</p><p>	“Fine.” Alex said sharply. Michael could tell Alex was still a bit annoyed with Kyle for caring. Michael also secretly agreed with Kyle, that Alex needed to take his health more seriously if he was going to continue working in the military, but he didn’t say anything. Michael also realized he had had more time to understand Alex’s quirks when it came to affection and attention. Kyle would figure out how to understand Alex’s intimate language in time.</p><p>	Alex went over to Kyle and sat on his lap. He grabbed Kyle’s face between his hands and kissed him quickly.</p><p>	“You frustrate me,” Alex began, “but I do love you.”</p><p>	“I know,” Kyle smiled. He huffed out a breath, kissed Alex back for a few seconds, before continuing. “Okay, let’s get going.”</p><p>	“Alright now that’s over.” Michael said moving toward the door.</p><p>	“Shut up.” Kyle and Alex both said. Michael laughed.</p><p>	As they left the room, Alex grabbed his cane. He brought it just incase, but figured it would make Kyle calm down. He also knew that the next day would, most likely, involve breaking into a prison and maybe even some hiking through the woods. He might as well give himself a break today.</p><p>	They headed out to the local library, which was only a few blocks away. When they got inside, Alex headed up to the front desk, while Michael disappeared into the stacks. Kyle, on the other hand, went to the small group of public use computers to start researching there. Alex looked around and didn’t see anyone around in the library, not even behind the front desk.</p><p>	“Hello?” He called.</p><p>	He heard a thump from under the counter, followed by a soft curse. Then a man appeared from beneath the desk. On second look, Alex wanted to call him a boy, but thought he might just look young for his age. He was about the same height as Alex, with short brown hair, moles, and a goofy smile.</p><p>	“Hi, um. Hey.” He said, slightly out of breath. “How may I… How can I help you?”</p><p>	“You okay?” Alex asked, surprised by the guy’s hyper-activity for this early in the morning.</p><p>	“Oh, what? That?” He said, pointing to the offending desk in front of him. “No, I’m fine. Happens. How are you?” As soon as the last words came out of his mouth he grimaced.</p><p>	“Fine.” Alex laughed softly.</p><p>	“Sorry, my name is Stiles. I’m the assistant librarian here. How can I help you?” He pointed to his nametag while he said everything in a single breath.</p><p>	“I was wondering if you had any old, local newspapers on microfiche here?” Alex asked.</p><p>	“Oh, yeah.” Stiles said, excited. He came out from behind the desk and motioned Alex to follow him towards the back of the building. “What are you looking for? I’m a big local history buff.”</p><p>	“Uhh,” Alex stalled, thinking of a convincing lie, on the spot, to explain why he was there. “My friends and I are, uhh, looking at a lot of old local news in towns in California. We’re writing a, um, book on important historic events. But seen through the eyes of small towns.”</p><p>	“Oh, cool.” The librarian continued. “Nice that you actually get to travel to all the towns. But, you’re in the right place, I spent a lot of the last two years digitizing a lot of the old newspapers we have here.”</p><p>	They finally stopped in front of a computer at the back of the large building. Stiles pointed to the computer.</p><p>	“Unfortunately, this is the only computer they can be accessed from, and anything that isn’t here, that we have, should still be on microfiche. Or we may even have the actual papers back in that room.” Stiles continued. He pointed to the door next to the desk the computer sat on. He pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door. “Feel free to come and go, just let me know when you’re done so I can lock up.”</p><p>	“Wow, this is great. Thanks.” Alex said, sitting down at the computer.</p><p>	“Alright, I’ll leave you to it.” And with that the librarian headed back up to the front of the building and Alex started his research.</p><p> </p><p>	Michael headed back into the alleys of books as he heard Alex speaking with, who he could only assume was, the librarian. He walked the stacks until he found the, very small, section labeled ‘Local and Regional History’. He started perusing the titles to see if there was anything that would be pertinent to what they were looking for. </p><p>        He spent a few minutes reading titles so boring he thought he may never find anything useful, when one title caught his eye. Just as he was about to pick up ‘Beacon Hills: A Strange and Extraordinary History’ he heard footsteps come up behind him.</p><p>        “Hey, can I help you find anything?” A voice said from right behind him. Michael managed not to jump, but did spin around quickly. A gangly kid stood there, with a nametag proclaiming him ‘Stiles’. </p><p>        “Uhh, nope, I’m good.” Michael said in, what he hoped, was a leave-me-alone, voice. He hated when people bothered him at the library. All the workers in the Roswell Library knew to steer clear of him by now, but it seemed this guy didn’t get the message. And what kind of name was Stiles anyway.</p><p>        “Are you sure? I know a lot about this stuff. Born and raised in Beacon Hills. Only time I’ve left was for school, and even then I came back all the time. My dad has lived here for almost 45 years, can you believe that?” The kid rambled, only stopping when Michael finally interrupted him.</p><p>        “Look, kid, thanks, but I’m okay finding books on my own.” Michael said.</p><p>        “Kid? Dude, I’m 25. Everyone always thinks I’m a kid.” He mumbled the last sentence. </p><p>        “Oh, uhh, sorry?” Michael said it like a question, just hoping the guy would get out of his hair.</p><p>“Whatever, I’ll leave you be. I should be up at the front, if you want to check any of those out.” He said, pointing to the books. With that, the chatty librarian left Michael to peruse the rows once more.</p><p>         Michael turned back around and grabbed ‘Beacon Hills: A Strange and Extraordinary History’ and continued to examine the books. He found a few more that looked like they may be relevant to their research.</p><p>         His eyes again stopped when he saw yet another interesting title. ‘A Military History of Northern California: Secrets and Lies of the Armed Forces’. It was sitting at the end of a row of other military books, it was short but Michael grabbed it anyway hoping it would have something they could use. Michael took his half dozen or so books to a nearby table and started to flip through them to see which were worth checking out and showing to Alex and Kyle.</p><p> </p><p>         Kyle sat at the computer bay, as he started to search the libraries resources he saw Michael disappear into the history section. He heard Alex chatting with the guy at the front desk, and turned his attention fully to the web browser.</p><p>         He looked into the different databases the library had access to. After fifteen minutes of searching the Northern California Database of Local History and not finding much, he decided to take a break and answer some work emails. He knew Michael and Alex were better at this kind of research anyway.</p><p>         As he answered some patient questions and okay-ed a few prescription changes, he noticed the front desk guy come back from helping Alex. The guy looked a little nervous, he was biting his nails and pacing behind the front counter. Kyle turned slightly so he could watch the guy out of his peripheral vision, instead of gawking at him. After a few minutes of pacing and muttering quietly to himself the librarian seemed to come to a decision. </p><p>         He looked up and over at Kyle and, deciding Kyle wasn’t paying attention, grabbed his phone and started to dial as he headed into the employee room behind him. Kyle turned back to the computer and again, started half-heartedly looking through some more of the history and military databases he could find. He didn’t see the guy come back out to the desk for twenty minutes or so. When he did, he seemed to busy himself by organizing some books behind the counter, but kept giving Kyle a sideways glance every few minutes.</p><p>         Kyle was just about to go ask the guy where he could print some stuff out when someone else came into the library. Kyle knew they had been there nearly an hour at this point and hadn’t seen anyone else, so it was a little strange. He found it even weirder when the new man went up to the librarian, like he knew him, and the two started to talk.</p><p>         The new guy was quite tall with a bunch of dark blonde curls on his head, hunched shoulders, and bright eyes. He too, looked over at Kyle while chatting with the librarian. Kyle felt weird, something had to be going on. He got up and went to go look for either Michael or Alex to see what they thought.</p><p>         He got a few isles back into the stacks, when he saw Michael walking toward him, a few books stacked in his hands.</p><p>        “Hey,” Kyle whispered as Michael drew nearer. “The librarian is acting kinda’ weird.”</p><p>        “Yeah, that dude is something. And what kind of name is Stiles?” Michael said back quietly.</p><p>        “Stiles?” Kyle said confused.</p><p>        “Yeah, the librarians’ name.” Michael looked back.</p><p>        “What? Well, I don’t know man, I could be overreacting but he kept lookin’ at me and then he disappeared for a while and then this other guy showed up. I’m not sure, feels like something is going on.” Kyle said quietly looking back and forth over his shoulder.</p><p>        “You think it has something to do with the prison? Maybe military?” Michael asked, trying to look through the rows of books to see the men at the front.</p><p>        “I don’t know. Maybe?” Kyle said. He looked around a bit, but didn’t see Alex anywhere. “I’m gonna’ go find Alex. You have what you need?”</p><p>        “Yeah, I’ll go check out these books, and see if these dudes are up to anything. Meet you at the front.” Michael said, eyes already searching for the librarian again.</p><p>         As Kyle headed back towards the rear of the building, looking for Alex, he laughed at himself for being so paranoid. But growing up in Roswell, and all the oter recent events, made you a little paranoid.</p><p>         He finally found Alex at a computer by a big microfiche machine. As he approached, Alex looked up.</p><p>         “I didn’t know they even still had these.” Kyle said pointing to the big contraption.</p><p>         “Yeah, I found some good stuff too, copied it all and sent it to myself so we can look at it together.” Alex said, eyes going back to the computer screen.</p><p>         “Great, that means we can leave. The librarian was acting kinda’ weird and another guy came in and was eyeing me funny. I might be paranoid but better safe than sorry, especially when it comes to the kind of research we’re doing.” Kyle said quickly and softly.</p><p>         “What are you talking about? Where’s Michael?” Alex said, standing up, he grabbed his cane and the handful of papers sitting next him, and began walking back to the front of the building, Kyle following behind.</p><p>         “He’s checking out some books.” Kyle said. Alex picked up his pace a bit. They rounded the final bookshelf and looked around. Michael was at the front counter, books in hand, between the librarian and another man. Michael was staring weirdly at the new stranger.</p><p>          Then, Michael caught Alex’s eye and waved, saying something to the two men, before walking quickly over to Kyle and Alex.</p><p>         “Let’s go.” Michael said through his teeth, giving them both a significant look.</p><p>          Without any questions the three left the building, but not before Alex got a good long look at the two strangers.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A bit of a short one today, that kinda ends in a cliffhanger? Let me know what you think.</p><p>Love to all.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They drove back to the hotel quickly, barely saying a word. All three were afraid to say anything until they returned to the relative privacy of their hotel room. As they got back inside, Alex locked the door, and the tension finally broke.</p>
<p>“What was that?” Alex asked both Kyle and Michael.</p>
<p>“What were they saying to you?” Kyle asked Michael, at the same time.</p>
<p>“It was really weird, the librarian was already giving me strange vibes, but that other guy was in the diner last night. He kept staring at me last night? And then he shows up today again?” Michael said, rambling a bit, and pacing back and forth.</p>
<p>“What do you mean he was there last night?” Alex asked.</p>
<p>“Yeah, he was in the diner. He kept giving me weird looks, I almost went up to him, but our food was ready.” Michael said.</p>
<p>“Fuck,” Kyle exclaimed. “Your dad must have sent people already.”</p>
<p>“No, I don’t think so.” Alex said back, “They definitely weren’t military. But the fact that you’ve seen him twice now, and we’ve only been in town for 18 hours, is suspicious.”</p>
<p>“How do you know they aren’t military? They could be your dad’s spies or maybe… maybe they’ve been following us since Roswell.” Kyle said, voice getting faster and higher with every word.</p>
<p>“No one has been following us. That doesn’t even make sense.” Alex said, rolling his eyes. “And they didn’t hold themselves like military, but the curly haired guy is undoubtedly stronger than he looks, he held himself like a fighter.”</p>
<p>“Why was he in the diner last night and at the library today? That can’t just be coincidence.” Michael replied.</p>
<p>“Maybe it is. I’m not sure, but I don’t think it has anything to do with my father.” Alex said.</p>
<p>“Whoever they are, they know something, and were watching us.” Michael continued.</p>
<p>“Yeah, the librarian called the other one on the phone, and they were keeping their eyes on us the whole time we were there.” Kyle offered. “But it doesn’t really matter who they are, what are we gonna’ do about them?”</p>
<p>“I’m not sure we should do anything yet.” Alex started. “I think we should just, kind of, wait and see if we run into them again. Plus, they haven’t actually done anything yet.”</p>
<p>“I think we should go find them before they find us.” Michael said, looking like he was ready to go out, right then, and fight whoever he could find.</p>
<p>“No, we ought to make sure they aren’t following us, but right now I think finding out more about the prison should be our top priority.” Alex replied.</p>
<p>“Alex is right,” Kyle agreed, “plus we have you and Alex, what can they do that you two won’t be able to defend against?” Kyle said directly to Michael, trying to calm him down.</p>
<p>“Fine.” Michael said, breathing still heavy, and anger still in his expression, “But if we see either of them again, we’re gonna’ have to do something about it.”</p>
<p>“We will, if we see them again, we’ll figure out their motives, and we’ll take care of them.” Alex said, placating, “But I really think we need to get back to our primary objective. The quicker we get info on the prison, the quicker we can get out of here.”</p>
<p>For the next few hours they all went through the research. The three taking notes on almost everything, just incase it was important for later. For a while they didn’t find anything helpful. Kyle hadn’t brought much to the table, from the library, so Michael gave him one his books to look through. Alex reviewed all the newspaper articles he had found as well.</p>
<p>Almost all the information, they had gathered, was from around the same time the prison was supposedly built. Though the title sounded relevant, ‘A Military History of Northern California: Secrets and Lies of the Armed Forces’ ended up being a dead end. The whole book seemed to be about the Coast Guard during World War II, and a nearby Japanese Internment Camp.</p>
<p>Alex wasn’t able to find much, he found a few articles about the military moving into Beacon Hills in the early 1950’s. They assumed that was probably around the time the prison was established. He also read through a lot of articles about the fight against deforestation around the same time. Apparently, the town of Beacon Hills was extremely against the military coming in to town and cutting down parts of the forest. He also read that the prison had been decommissioned and subsequently abandoned in the 1960’s, which made him feel a bit better about the odds of military personnel still being on site. However, that also meant there may not be nearly as much information on site as he had hoped for. Other than that, the newspapers didn’t lead to any new information.</p>
<p>Hopes low on finding anything of actual use, Michael moved onto the last book he had checked out. He hoped he would get lucky and ‘Beacon Hills: A Strange and Extraordinary History’ would have a section on local alien lore. Though he didn’t see anything even close to aliens in the table of contents, something did catch his eye.</p>
<p>“Woah, look at this.” Michael said turning the book around for Kyle and Alex to see. He pointed to one of the chapter titles. “Oak Creek Prison and Surrounding Forests.”</p>
<p>“Jackpot.” Kyle said, looking excited.</p>
<p>“Wait, don’t get your hopes up, let’s see what it actually says first.” Alex said as he grabbed the book from Michael. He started skimming the chapter before his eyes got big and he began reading out loud.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“When Oak Creek Prison was originally constructed, many people in the town protested against the military building in their forests. Unfortunately the military moved forward with the construction and due to the security and covert nature of the facility, the general public only knew the name of the prison. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Some military personnel lived in Beacon Hills, but the majority either lived in the barracks at the prison, or on the outskirts of the town. This led to much of speculation as to what the prison was doing there and who was locked inside. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> The forests around Beacon Hills are surrounded in lore themselves, and in the decades since the prison sparked questions, that lore has grown to include Oak Creek Prison itself. Like with many strange things that have happened in and around Beacon Hills, mythological creatures and hauntings are the two most sited myth categories surrounding the prison.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Either way, Oak Creek Prison was shut down a mere ten years after it was established, and ever since, there have been almost no personal accounts of anything in that part of the Beacon Hills woods. There have been reports of people going missing in the area and of animal attacks, but none have been substantiated, and are generally written off as urban myth.”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alex finished reading and looked up. Michael’s eyes were wide.</p>
<p>“At least we have a name now. Oak Creek.” Alex said.</p>
<p>“Those stories could be about aliens.” Michael said, getting more excited now that it seemed they had some proof that aliens could have been there.</p>
<p>“Yeah, could be. With how secretive the military seemed to be about this place, makes it seem like this could have been another Caulfield. I just hope that we’ll be able to find info there even though its been abandoned for almost 60 years.” Alex replied.</p>
<p>“It seems pretty likely though.” Kyle said. “Stories of ‘mythological creatures’ and ‘hauntings’ surrounding the town. Could definitely be code for ‘aliens we don’t know about’.”</p>
<p>They spent a few more minutes perusing the book before realizing none of the other chapters had anything they needed in them. Alex was, however, impressed by the amount of lore one town contained. Almost half the book was about ancient ‘wolf-people’ and how they still inhabited the forest even today. He chuckled at this, but then stopped short when he remembered they were there looking for aliens.</p>
<p>Too paranoid about seeing the strangers for a third time, in two days, Michael suggested they just eat sandwiches and snacks from the stash they brought with them for the car ride. The other two happily agreed, and the three spent the evening watching some grainy television, eating sticky PB&amp;Js and planning for the next day.</p>
<p>“I think going around dawn will give us the best tactical advantage, if there are any guards there.” Alex was saying. “And, if there aren’t any people, it will give us most of the day to investigate and take anything we want with us.”</p>
<p>“I agree. If they have any alien tech we won’t want to be lugging it out to the car in the dark.” Michael agreed.</p>
<p>“I know you will be looking for tech and other evidence, and you,” Kyle turned from Michael to Alex, “will be looking for any information about the military involvement in alien affairs, and anything relating to Caulfield. But what do you guys need me to do? I feel like I’m just kind of along for the ride.”</p>
<p>“Based on what we found at Caulfield, I was going to ask you to look for and analyze,” Alex began before glancing at Michael nervously. “any medical files or evidence of experiments on aliens, we find.”</p>
<p>Michael’s face turned down in an instant. He hadn’t even thought of what could have gone on in Oak Creek Prison; he was just so interested in maybe finding more evidence of aliens. It hit him all at once, if they did find proof of more aliens here, what did they go through, did they endure what his mother had? Would he have to look at more photos of his people crying, naked, fear in their eyes?</p>
<p>“Fuck!” Michael half yelled, making the other two jump slightly.</p>
<p>“You won’t have to look.” Alex said calmly, rubbing Michael’s back in an attempt to cut off the downward spiral Michael seemed to be headed toward.</p>
<p>“It doesn’t matter if I see it or not! Its just more people, like my mom, being tortured.” Michael cried out.</p>
<p>“I’m really sorry babe, but what did you expect we would find?” Alex asked.</p>
<p>“Alex.” Kyle said, eyes big, silently telling him to shut up.</p>
<p>“I don’t know, I guess I wasn’t really thinking about it. I was just so excited that I might find out more about my people, I didn’t even think about what happened to them.” Michael continued miserably. His left hand began to shake; he clenched it unconsciously, got up, out of his chair, and began to pace. “Shit, shit, how did I not think about this?” He grabbed his curls in frustration.</p>
<p>“Michael,” Kyle got up and went to him, grabbing Michael’s hands in his, soothing him. “Michael calm down, we don’t have any information yet. We don’t know who was here or what they did. Worrying about it now, before we know anything, is going to drive you crazy.” He started massaging Michael’s hand in his, trying to take his attention off the anxiety attack he was descending into.</p>
<p>“Fuck.” Michael said again, knowing Kyle was right. He pulled away and sat on the side of the bed. He put his face in his hands and tried to take some deep breaths. He knew he didn’t need to go borrowing trouble before they even found any evidence. But now, all he could think of was the Caulfield intake picture of his mother, and how her eyes screamed into his soul.</p>
<p>He slowly took a few more breaths before he felt someone sit next to him on the bed. He felt an arm go around him and smelled Alex as he leaned Michael into his chest and kissed his curls.</p>
<p>Alex hummed to Michael and rocked them both back and forth. This was something they had done a few times before, in a bid to calm the other one down, after nightmares or panic attacks. Michael’s breathing and heartbeat slowly returned to normal before he looked up again.</p>
<p>“You okay?” Kyle asked sitting across from Alex and Michael on a chair.</p>
<p>“Not really,” Michael smiled. “But I’m not freaking out any more.”</p>
<p>“Okay, well, I vote for a shower, then maybe a movie. We need to get an early night sleep anyway.” Alex put in, squeezing Michael closer into himself.</p>
<p>“Yeah, sounds good.” Michael replied, getting up and heading into the large bathroom. Before he made it all the way there however, he turned and looked at the other two. “You coming?”</p>
<p>They each looked at Michael and then to other, before following him.</p>
<p>“Are you sure?” Kyle asked. “You just freaked out about everything, maybe you just need to relax.”</p>
<p>“This will be relaxing.” He said with a sad grin. “Please? I think it will actually make me feel better.” He continued, thinking about how feeling close to his partners usually calmed him down better than anything else.</p>
<p>“Okay, just let us know if you change your mind.” Kyle replied.</p>
<p>Michael rolled his eyes, but deep down, appreciated how comfortable Kyle always tried to make them feel.</p>
<p>Michael stripped off his clothes and turned on the water as hot as it would go, before looking back at the other two. Kyle was clad just in his boxers and Michael pressed them chest-to-chest before sliding his thumbs into Kyle’s underpants and dragging them down and off his body. Alex smirked from where he was sitting on the closed toilet, just finishing getting naked himself.</p>
<p>“Come here.” Michael whispered before picking Alex up, with some help from his powers, and carrying him into the shower. Alex wriggled a bit but submitted to the manhandling before kissing Michael deeply, his left leg wrapped about Michael’s butt.</p>
<p>Kyle joined them in the shower, wrapping himself around the other two, from behind Alex. Michael laughed before he dropped Alex on the built-in bench; he pushed Kyle down beside Alex and proceeded to get on top of both of them. He put a knee in between each of the other two’s legs.</p>
<p>As the water splashed around them, all three took turns kissing and watching. When Michael’s knees started to twinge in the uncomfortable position, he got up, and, swaying his hips seductively, started to wash himself off. The other two just laughed.</p>
<p>“Come on, I’m trying to be sexy, don’t laugh.” Michael grinned.</p>
<p>“Sorry, sorry.” Kyle said, “You are very cute.”</p>
<p>Before Michael could object to the word ‘cute’ Kyle got up and slammed him against the opposite wall of the shower. All three barely fit in the shower together anyway, so it wasn’t much of a shove, but it still caused Michael to retaliate by biting at Kyle’s lips and kissing him hard. After a few long minutes of making out, Alex cleared his throat.</p>
<p>“Alright, alright, very hot, but one of you better get back over here and wash my back.” He said, smirk still on his face. Michael and Kyle pulled apart, and as Kyle took his turn actually washing up, Michael straddled Alex again. As Michael settled and started rubbing his hands up and down Alex’s back, he sagged.</p>
<p>Alex squeezed him hard, and dragged his hands through Michael’s curls. He pulled Michael’s face around until they were nose to nose.</p>
<p>“Love you.” Alex said quietly, before kissing Michael again. Michael just breathed in Alex’s scent and let him take the lead. He felt Kyle’s hand trail up his back as he got out of the shower, the water starting to run cold.</p>
<p>Michael detached himself from Alex and rinsed them both off before turning off the shower.</p>
<p>A few minutes later, when all three were finally snuggled together in bed for the night, Michael sighed. He felt more loved between these two people in bed, than he had ever felt before. Comforted, knowing both his partners cared about him. One of the only relationships he had ever truly felt secure in. Despite what had happened earlier, as he huddled down lower in the sheets, and fell asleep with a smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alex woke to a small sound, his years of military training making him a light sleeper. He stayed still and quiet as he slowly gripped the gun stashed under his pillow. He was more worried about the strangers in town than he had let on to Michael and Kyle.</p>
<p>He felt someone, or someones, as they entered their room. Quiet footsteps letting Alex know the sound he had woken to was probably the doorjamb breaking. He opened his eyes a slit, the only light coming from the moon through the window, and saw moving shadows at the foot of the bed. Then, in one jarring motion, Alex grabbed his gun, flipped over, and pointed it at the invaders.</p>
<p>"Who the HELL are you?" Alex shouted, his gun trained on the midnight intruders. Michael and Kyle sat up next to him in the bed, waking in the commotion. They stared at the new comers, angry and confused.</p>
<p>"WHAT the hell are you?" One of the strangers replied from the shadows, eyes suddenly glowing yellow.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Woo the cliffhanger you've been waiting for. (maybe).</p>
<p>The next chapter will have pretty much all of the Teen Wolf characters, that I've decided to include, in it. As such I will also be adding a quick character note at the end of the next part for people who don't know much about Teen Wolf. It will just have their names and what kind of creature they are. Let me know if there is anything else you want me to include.</p>
<p>As always kudos and comments are loved and appreciated.</p>
<p>Love to all.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is the chapter that inspired the whole fic! I hope you enjoy.</p><p>The notes at the end have a short thing on each of the Teen Wolf characters for anyone who needs it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Alex woke to a small sound, his years of military training making him a light sleeper. He stayed still and quiet as he slowly gripped the gun stashed under his pillow. He was more worried about the strangers in town than he had let on to Michael and Kyle. </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>He felt someone, or someones, as they entered their room. Quiet footsteps letting Alex know the sound he had woken to was probably the doorjamb breaking. He opened his eyes a slit, the only light coming from the moon through the window, and saw moving shadows at the foot of the bed. Then, in one jarring motion, Alex grabbed his gun, flipped over, and pointed it at the invaders.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>"Who the HELL are you?" Alex shouted, his gun trained on the midnight intruders. Michael and Kyle sat up next to him in the bed, waking in the commotion. They stared at the new comers, angry and confused.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>"WHAT the hell are you?" One of the strangers replied from the shadows, eyes suddenly glowing yellow.</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>            Then from the darkness another pair of eyes, this time icy blue, joined the first. A second pair of blue eyes started to shine, these closer to the door, and finally blood red eyes glowed from the blackness, rounding out the nightmarish scene.</p><p> </p><p>            “What the fuck.” Kyle yelled as he reached over to the bedside lamp and turned it on. Light flooded the room. Alex blinked quickly, so as to not be blinded, therefore losing his advantage against the intruders.</p><p> </p><p>            “I have the gun, so how about you answer my questions first.” Alex said, waving the weapon slightly before focusing it back on the man closest to him.</p><p> </p><p>            “Go ahead and shoot, see what happens.” The man in front growled, teeth suddenly elongating, and hair starting to sprout from the sides of his face.</p><p> </p><p>            “What the fuck.” Kyle said again, this time his voice an octave higher, as he scooted to the top of the bed. Michael just looked at the men, stunned.</p><p> </p><p>            Quicker than any of the three men in the bed could move, the man with the yellow eyes grabbed Kyle. They recognized him as the stranger with curly hair from the library earlier. He dragged Kyle back toward the others, arm around his neck. His eyes still glowing yellow, his fingernails, by Kyle’s throat, now sharp and pointed like claws.</p><p> </p><p>            “Let him go.” Alex said menacingly, in his best military voice, now moving his gun to point at the man holding Kyle.</p><p> </p><p>            “Tell me what you are and we will.” The man with blue eyes, standing at the front said. From what Alex could tell, he seemed to be the one in charge, the rest following his lead. He was tall with jet-black hair, along with his fangs and glowing eyes, he stood like a warrior, ready to fight.</p><p> </p><p>            Michael knew Alex wasn’t stupid enough to fire a gun in the middle of the night; pretty much guaranteeing someone would call the police. He also knew there was no way Kyle could get out of the hold the curly haired guy had on him. Plus the other two, shorter but just as deadly looking, didn’t seem like they were afraid of Alex or his gun. So Michael made a quick, and hopefully, tactical decision.</p><p> </p><p>            Worried about Kyle and Alex at this point, Michael concentrated all his will toward the four intruders. It was hard for him to move more than small objects, usually, with his powers, but his emotions and adrenalin were running as high as they ever had before.</p><p> </p><p>            Michael looked directly at the four men, and all at once, they flew backwards, slamming into the wall across from the bed. The man holding Kyle dropped him, and Kyle scrambled away. Michael kept them pinned to the wall.</p><p> </p><p>            “Shit.” Alex said from beside him. “What are we supposed to do?”</p><p> </p><p>            “Not sure, but you better do it quick, I can’t hold them for long.” Michael replied, concentrating harder now that the men had started to fight back against the telekinesis.</p><p> </p><p>            “Shit, okay.” Alex said looking around, he put down his gun and began putting on his leg as fast as he could. “Kyle, grab the zip ties from the bag and cuff them.”</p><p> </p><p>            “What’s that even gonna’ do?” Kyle said, while following his orders. “They’re super fucking strong.” He found the thick zip ties in Alex’s duffle and warily made his way over to the four struggling people. He got the first guy’s hands behind his back and tied together, flinching at every attempted attack.</p><p> </p><p>            “I don’t know, but its better than nothing, and better than shooting them before we find out who they are.” Alex said back, slipping his leg on finally and joining Kyle, securing the other three.</p><p> </p><p>            “Hurry.” Michael said, voice strained, his powers slipping.</p><p> </p><p>            As Kyle and Alex retreated back, having cuffed all the men’s hands, Michael’s powers finally gave out and the intruders fell to the floor.</p><p> </p><p>Michael leaned over the bed and vomited.</p><p> </p><p>            Then as Alex and Kyle looked on, all four men broke the zip ties with such ease they could have been made of paper. A single pop, not even a pretense of a struggle, and they were free.</p><p> </p><p>            “Fuck.” Alex said quietly, retreating next to Michael. Michael continued to vomit and spit. Kyle, on the other side of the bed, also retreated to the wall. All three were preparing to fight a losing battle against the now advancing strangers.</p><p> </p><p>            Then, just as the air of the room turned sour, just as the fight was about to begin, the tension in the room broke. A thump from right outside the broken door got the attention of everyone in the room. Before any of them could focus enough to fight again, they heard a voice join the thump.</p><p> </p><p>            “I’m just trying to hear better.” A voice said. Then with a short scream, three new people fell into the room. “Ow, shit, Lyds.” The same voice said. Alex recognized the man as the librarian, Stiles, they had met earlier in the day.</p><p> </p><p>            “Stiles, I told you to stay outside.” The red-eyed guy said, exasperated.</p><p> </p><p>            “We couldn’t hear, and honestly, Scott, we should have all been in here from the start.” Said a woman with bright red hair, righting herself and brushing dust off of her dress.</p><p> </p><p>            “Jesus, who are all you fuckin’ people?” Alex exploded, still in attack mode but now thrown way off balance by the introduction of more people.</p><p> </p><p>            “Alex?” The second woman said. “Alex Manes?” She had long brown hair, was holding a bow, a quiver over her shoulder, and was staring intently at Alex.</p><p> </p><p>            Alex’s eyes snapped over to the woman, bewildered. But after a long moment, in which everyone else in the room looked on in confusion, recognition hit him.</p><p> </p><p>            “Allison?” He asked. “What the fuck? What are you doing here, who are these people?” Alex was still wary of all the people in the room around him, but the addition of Allison put him, a bit, at ease.</p><p> </p><p>            The tone in the room shifted, all of them taking a breath, all the glowing eyes going back to normal, everyone looking between Alex and Allison in anticipation.</p><p> </p><p>            “You two know each other?” Michael asked, in an expectant tone, breaking the silence.</p><p> </p><p>            Alex cleared his throat, still looking perplexedly at Allison.</p><p> </p><p>            “Uh, yeah, we were friends when we were young. Our dads worked together in New Mexico. What are you doing here?” He asked her again. Not even sparing a glance back at Michael or Kyle.</p><p> </p><p>            “We moved here when I was in high school.” She replied. “What are you doing here?”</p><p> </p><p>            “Looking into some of my dad’s old work.” Alex said, surprising both Kyle and Michael with his honesty. Then their earlier words seemed to sink in to everyone else in the room.</p><p> </p><p>            “Wait your dads know each other?!?” Stiles yelled.</p><p> </p><p>            “You know her through Jesse? And we aren’t shooting them because?” Kyle said at the same time. His voice had turned aggressive, as had his body language.</p><p> </p><p>            “So, you guys are some sort of hunters too?” The group leader asked Alex, turning back to the three out-of-towners, eyes beginning to glow icy blue again.</p><p> </p><p>            “Hunters?” Michael said, eyes growing wide, spit still on his chin, gazing back at Alex. Alex saw the fear in Michael’s eyes, thinking they had just run into another group of people that were there just to kill him. Were these people more alien hunters? Was Alex wrong and these people <em>were</em> actually sent by Jesse?</p><p> </p><p>            “We’re not hunters.” Alex said, eyeing the others. “I thought you weren’t in your father’s business.” He said, turning back to Allison.</p><p> </p><p>            “I’m not. We aren’t hunters either.” She said.</p><p> </p><p>            “Your bow says otherwise.” He countered, eyeing the weapon.</p><p> </p><p>            “It’s just here for protection, plus, I’m not the one with the gun.” She said, pointing at the weapon, forgotten in Alex’s hand.</p><p> </p><p>            “Well, someone was following us.” Alex said, glaring back at the curly haired man, then Stiles. “We thought they might try and do something. Guess I was right.”</p><p> </p><p>            The energy in the room began to thicken again, each group tensing and facing each other.</p><p> </p><p>            “Wait.” Stiles yelled, all eyes now on him. “If you guys aren’t werewolf hunters, what the hell are you doing here?”</p><p> </p><p>            “Werewolves?” Kyle yelled. “You’re werewolves?”</p><p> </p><p>            “Oops.” Stiles said, looking at the others in shame.</p><p> </p><p>            “This is why you Stay Outside.” The gruff leader guy yelled.</p><p> </p><p>            “Wait, if you aren’t here about the werewolf stuff, what does this have to do with your dad?” Allison asked, more confused than ever.</p><p> </p><p>            “I don’t think my dad knows anything about werewolves. And neither do we.” Alex said, the only one of the three from Roswell, to not be surprised about the revelation. He wasn’t expecting it, but based on what he had read earlier that day, at least it made a little bit of sense.</p><p> </p><p>            “Well, if you aren’t a werewolf, what are you?” The leader asked, turning back to Michael. “Cause you definitely don’t smell human, and I’ve never met a werewolf who was telekinetic.”</p><p> </p><p>            “I don’t smell human?” Michael asked, rolling his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>            “Telekinetic? So cool.” Stiles said under his breath.</p><p> </p><p>            Alex, Michael, and Kyle all looked at each other, knowing they were backed into a corner. Reveal what Michael was or keep it a secret. It sounded like the others were on their side when it came to hunters, and Alex knew one of them, and seemed to trust her, so that was another point in their favor. They couldn’t completely trust these people, but Alex thought they might be able to use them.</p><p> </p><p>            They were locals and, apparently, werewolves, so chances are they knew the surrounding woods quite well. They were probably Alex and Michael’s best chance at figuring out anything before they had to go into the prison blind.</p><p> </p><p>            Michael understood what Alex was thinking; these new people could be just what they needed to figure out what was going on at the prison. He smiled, and nodded at Alex, letting him know it was fine, they would figure out the fallout later. He cleared his throat before turning back to the other group.</p><p> </p><p>            “Uh, I’m an alien?” He said, trying to gage their immediate reactions.</p><p> </p><p>            “What the fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Said the guy, who had, up to this point, been silent. He had been behind the others, but now, eyes wide, stepped forward a bit in shock.</p><p> </p><p>            “Shut up, Jackson.” The red head said quickly.</p><p> </p><p>            “What do you mean alien?” The leader asked as, at the same time, Stiles began to laugh.</p><p> </p><p>            “I knew it! Well, I didn’t know you were an alien.” He pointed at Michael. “But I knew it, I knew aliens were real, I told you all, I told you all and you laughed at me. ‘No, Stiles, aliens aren’t real’” This part he said in a high pitched voice, fingers making air quotes. “Like you aren’t fucking werewolves. Like I’m the crazy one.”</p><p> </p><p>            “Shut Up Stiles.” The leader said, practically growled, at the kid.</p><p> </p><p>            “All I’m saying is fuck you Derek, cause I called it.” Stiles said back quietly.</p><p> </p><p>            “What do you mean alien?” The leader asked again, ignoring Stiles and turning his attention back to Michael.</p><p> </p><p>            “Uh, like alien.” He said, trying to understand what the guy was asking. “Like I come from a different planet, gestated in a pod, have telekinesis kind of alien.”</p><p> </p><p>            “That still doesn’t really answer why you’re here though.” Said Allison, attention back on Alex. Everyone else’s eyes were still wide and focused on Michael, as if they couldn’t believe what was happening.</p><p> </p><p>            “Well, as he said, Michael’s an alien, and we heard there was a prison in the forest outside of town. We have reason to believe it used to house aliens, so we came to investigate.” Alex said, sticking to the basics, not wanting to reveal too much information yet.</p><p> </p><p>            “Oh, the weird abandoned prison, right next to the county line? What’s it called? Oak River, Oak Creek, something like that.” Stiles started to say. “Yeah that place is creepy dude.”</p><p> </p><p>            “Yeah, Oak Creek Prison.” Alex said, looking at Stiles again, still bemused by his constant state of over excitement. “We think there used to be aliens there, think my dad might have had something to do with it, so we came here to investigate, see what information we could find, maybe get some answers.”</p><p> </p><p>            As Stiles began to rant a bit about the forest, and how the whole thing really, was creepy, Alex was distracted by some of the others. The leader, who Alex now knew was named Derek, looked almost scared. The curly haired guy, and the one the red head had called Scott, both looked like they had seen a ghost.</p><p> </p><p>            Derek cleared his throat, interrupting Stiles’ word vomit.</p><p> </p><p>            “Did you say Oak Creek Prison?” He said, looking nervous.</p><p> </p><p>            “Yeah, Oak Creek.” This time Michael said, catching on to the looks some of the guys were giving him.</p><p> </p><p>            “You can’t go there.” The gruff man said. “You need to leave, there’s nothing there.”</p><p> </p><p>            Michael nearly laughed at that.</p><p> </p><p>            “Yeah, okay, we’ll just leave then.” He said sarcastically. “What are talking about?”</p><p> </p><p>            “Yeah, you can’t go there.” Scott said this time, eyes glowing red for a quick second.</p><p> </p><p>            “What?” Stiles asked, surprising Michael. “They can’t go there? I know its creepy, I mean from what I know, I’ve never actually been, but its just an abandoned building.”</p><p> </p><p>            “You need to leave.” Derek said quietly, clearing his throat again, before continuing in a stronger voice. “I don’t think there’s anything here for you. You should probably leave.”</p><p> </p><p>            It was Stiles that looked at Derek with an unbelieving face this time.</p><p> </p><p>            “What?” He looked around at Michael’s confused face, and Alex’s suspicious one. “Uh, just give us a sec.”</p><p> </p><p>            With that, Stiles tried his best to herd his group from the room. After a few minutes of staring contests, and whisper fights, the group started to file out. Allison and Stiles stayed behind and murmured to each other quickly.</p><p> </p><p>            While this was all going on, Alex, Michael, and Kyle, could only look at each other, not saying anything. Perplexed by what had happened in the last hour of their lives.</p><p> </p><p>            “Okay, so.” Allison said, as Stiles went out the door. “Not really sure what’s going on. But uhh, I actually think we might be able to help.”</p><p> </p><p>            “Um, Okay?” Alex said, still unbelievably confused.</p><p> </p><p>            “Yeah, so, come by the den tomorrow.” Allison said, as she grabbed the hotel pen and paper from the table next to the door and wrote down an address. “And, we’ll talk some more.” She smiled and handed the paper to Alex.</p><p> </p><p>            Alex took the paper and mouthed ‘den’.</p><p> </p><p>            “It’s really good to see you Alex. Nice to meet you too.” The last part she said to Michael and Kyle. Then she waved and left, closing the broken door as best she could behind her.</p><p> </p><p>            “What the fuck just happened?” Kyle started immediately. Alex and Michael both looked at him with twin baffled faces.</p><p> </p><p>            “I think this might be bigger than we thought.” Alex said, looking back down at the address Allison had given him.</p><p> </p><p>            “You think?” Michael asked, exasperated.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ok, for anyone who needs it, here is what you need to know about the Teen Wolf characters. This is only for this fic, and not completely canon to the show itself.</p><p>-Stiles Stilinski, 24, librarian, human, he has a bit of magic (called a spark sometimes), helps lead the pack, is extremely smart, has been dating Derek for 3ish years.</p><p>-Derek Hale, 32, beta born werewolf (blue eyes), used to be an alpha but is still the head of the pack cause Scott is a bit on an idiot.</p><p>-Scott McCall, 24, alpha bitten werewolf (red eyes), technically the leader, but again he's bad at it, so Derek does most of the leading. Is dating Isaac and Allison, this is very minor in the fic.</p><p>-Allison Argent, 25, human, badass archer and marksman, family are famous werewolf hunters, knows Alex because both of their dads are in or have worked for the military.</p><p>-Isaac Lahey, 24, beta bitten werewolf (yellow eyes), enforcer, wears scarves in the summer.</p><p>-Lydia Martin, 23, human/banshee, genius and knows it, used to date Jackson (this doesn't really matter to the fic, just thought I would add it.), sees death sometimes.</p><p>-Jackson Whittemore, 24, beta bitten werewolf (blue eyes), used to be a kanima (lizard-y shapeshifter), another enforcer, he used to date Lydia.</p><p>Those are all the Teen Wolf character appearing in this fic, however in my mind Boyd, Erica, Cora, Kira, the twins, Danny, and Liam are all alive, in the pack, but just like on vacay, lol.</p><p>Thanks so much for reading!! Let me know if you have questions.</p><p>Kudos and Comments are always loved and appreciated.</p><p>Love to all.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>            Kyle went to the bathroom and ran some water over a washcloth. Then he grabbed one of the hand towels and headed back into the main room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Could you start cleaning that up?” He asked as he threw the hand towel to Alex and pointed at the vomit that had missed the trashcan next to the bed. Kyle rummaged through his bag and grabbed one of the bottles of acetone he had brought along and took everything over to Michael.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Thanks.” Michael said as he opened and gulped down half the bottle. When he was done, Kyle brought the cloth up to his face and started to wipe. Michael angrily grabbed at it and finished wiping his mouth himself, glaring at Kyle.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, sorry.” Kyle said, backing up, hands in the air.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex finished cleaning up the sick, and then just threw the towel into the trash. He turned back to the other two and let out a loud breath.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “So, werewolves.” He said quietly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, what the hell was that about?” Michael said, tossing the washcloth onto the floor by the bathroom to deal with later.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I mean, I guess it makes sense.” Alex said, looking down at his hands.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “It does?” Kyle asked, confused.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, I mean, we know there are aliens, why should we believe those are the only stories that ended up being true.” Alex shrugged. “Plus that book we read is full of wolf lore.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay, so, werewolves.” Kyle said with a nod. “But are we really trusting them? Especially after that weird stuff at the end?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “No, I don’t think so.” Michael said. “But I do think they are probably our best bet to figure out what’s going on in those woods.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, I think we can use them to figure out more info and history, but I definitely don’t completely trust them.” Alex added.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Even Allison?” Kyle asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, who is she?” Michael wondered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I told you, our dad’s worked together when we were younger. She was my best friend before she moved away and I found Liz and Maria.” Alex said. “But I’m not sure I trust her, its weird that she’s here.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex pondered Allison’s sudden reappearance into his life. Could this have anything to do with Project Shepard or his father? He didn’t think so, but if this was a coincidence, it was a weird one.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “When we were younger, we both swore we would never become our fathers. Even then we knew what they were doing was wrong, even if we didn’t know exactly what it was. So, I really don’t think she’s working for my dad or anything.” Alex reasoned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “So you think this is a coincidence and we should believe her?” Michael asked, a little skeptical.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Well, from what I just saw, I think we should, at least, give them the benefit of the doubt.” Alex said. “I think they might be just what we need to figure everything out.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “And what if you’re wrong?” Kyle asked. “What if this is all a set up?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “It’s a little over complicated to be a set up.” Michael added in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “If we’re wrong we’ll deal with it, but I think we should at least go over tomorrow,” Alex started, glancing at the bedside clock, “or later today, and see what they have to say.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Kyle looked over at the clock as well and sighed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay, well, we still have some time to sleep, so I think we should get back to bed, figure everything out tomorrow. When I can think, and can wrap my head around yet another supernatural being existing in this world.” Kyle said, going back over to his side of the bed and climbing in-between the sheets.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I’m not supernatural.” Michael grumbled. “I’m scientific-al”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Kyle just huffed a laugh at that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael went and threw the washcloth from earlier into the shower, then he turned and looked at himself in the mirror. It was exceedingly frustrating to find all this new information without any of it being what he was looking for. He washed his face again, and gargled with some of the mouthwash. Despite the werewolf revelation, Michael could only concentrate on his lack of information about the aliens that may have been here. He just wanted to find out more about himself and his past, figure out if Max, Isobel, and he were, in fact, the last of their people. He sighed and headed back to bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex attempted to create the best doorjamb he could out of a suitcase and part of a lamp. The lock was indeed broken, they would have to find a better fix for it later. He was just re-taking off his leg when Michael came back in looking a bit better but still confused. As Michael climbed in between him and Kyle, Alex grabbed him for a tight hug.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “We’ll figure it out.” Alex said, trying to reassure Michael.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, I hope so.” Michael said, voice still too small, not much hope in his tone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, we will.” Alex continued. “We will find answers, maybe not the answers we thought, but we will find out about this prison. Okay?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah.” Michael said again, voice still void of confidence.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael arranged himself into a comfortable position, and as Alex turned off the light and put his arm around Michael’s middle, he stared at the ceiling. He doubted he would actually be able to get back to sleep after everything that had just occurred. But, his body felt otherwise, and after just a few minutes he followed Kyle’s soft snores, and Alex’s even breaths into sleep.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>            The next morning they got a later start than planned, but Alex, Kyle, and Michael piled into the SUV and headed back into the middle of town. They grabbed food, took coffees to go, and uneasily attempted to find the address Allison had provided.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            After Alex’s phone GPS lead them astray, and they got turned around a few times, they finally found the long winding dirt road that lead to their destination. The large house sat right next to the forest, in what could only barely be considered the outskirts of town.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            There were already four cars and a motorcycle parked on the dirt road by the house. An SUV that looked a lot like Alex’s, a really nice silver Porsche, a simple gray sedan, and finally, an old beat up sky blue Jeep.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “That car looks about as old as yours Guerin.” Alex laughed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Shut it.” Michael glared back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            They parked, and stared up at the large house. It was three stories tall, light yellow, and had a wrap around porch. Out front there was a well-kept flowerbed, and they could just barely see a vegetable garden to the side of the house as well.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            They headed towards the front door, all three of the still apprehensive about today. Michael’s nerves had calmed somewhat since the night before, but he was definitely still concerned about these people. Kyle seemed to be fully on Alex’s side of trusting them for now. Before Michael could prepare himself anymore, or turn around and insist they go back to the hotel, Alex walked up the front steps and knocked on the door.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Someone knew they were already there, because only two seconds after Alex knocked, the door flew open. Alex jumped back a bit, glaring at the person.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Hi!” Allison greeted them. “I’m so glad you guys came.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Hey.” Alex said, taking this opportunity to actually hug Allison.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Come in, come in. I wanted to introduce everyone today, ‘cause I feel like last night was a bit of a clusterfuck and you guys may not have met everyone properly.” she continued as she ushered them into the front hall. She asked them to take their shoes off and leave them by the door, which made Michael almost laugh at the absurdity of the situation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            The house was even bigger inside than it looked from outside. Everything was natural finished wood, with high ceilings, and everything looked comfortable. Allison showed them to the living room and pointed at the two guys sitting on one of the couches.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “That’s Scott.” She pointed at the guy with red eyes from last night. He gave a goofy grin and waved from his seat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Hey.” Said Scott. “Nice to see you in the day time.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “And that’s Isaac.” Allison pointed to the curly haired man they had seen four times now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Hello.” He said gruffly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex cleared his throat, this was less intimidating than he thought it would be, but it was awkward as hell.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Um, not sure if I said last night, but I’m Alex.” He gestured first to Michael, then Kyle. “This is Michael, and uh Kyle.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Kyle waved with a forced grin. Michael grunted a hello.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Just then the red headed girl and the guy Alex thought he remembered was named Jason came in, holding some large books that they set down on the table.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Lydia,” Said the woman, pointing to herself. “You guys are much hotter in the light.” She added, the guy next to her elbowed her for the comment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Uh, thanks?” Alex replied, surprised by her directness.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “This is Jackson.” She pointed to the guy with her. The man, Jackson, wrinkled his nose a bit at the three new comers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Sup.” He said, Alex could only think of the bros Kyle used to hang out with in high school.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay, so sit down.” Allison gestured to one of the three couches in the room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael, Alex, and Kyle all filed onto the couch, sitting a bit closer than necessary. Alex was right, the couch was very comfortable, and deep enough to nap on, he kind of wanted one for the cabin at home.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “So, can I get you like, coffee or anything?” Asked Lydia. “Derek and Stiles will be here in a sec, and then we can start discussing everything.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “No thanks.” Kyle and Alex said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Jackson, go get some waters for them.” Lydia commanded. Jackson rolled his eyes but went to go get them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “No, it’s alright.” Alex said again. Lydia glared at him, so he just sat back and waited.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “So, how are you finding Beacon Hills?” Allison asked as she took a seat on the couch with Scott and Isaac.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            This conversation was so not going how Michael thought it would. As, Alex answered Allison’s question, Michael was perplexed by the extreme change from last night. Where as everyone had been on high alert, today it seemed like the whole group was specifically trying to be as calm as possible. It felt forced, so Michael remained vigilant, watching each of them for signs of attack.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Allison and Alex continued to talk as the rest of each group just glared silently at one another. Jackson came back in with three waters, and set them down forcefully on the table. He then joined Lydia on the remaining couch.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After another minute or so Scott, Isaac, and Jackson sat up all of a sudden and looked toward the back of the house.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “They’re coming.” Scott abruptly said, cutting off Allison’s speech about how much she missed the desert. Scott rolled his eyes, then he raised his voice just a little and said. “Come on, you guys are taking forever.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael didn’t see or hear anyone coming into the room. He was confused and started looking behind himself when another few seconds went by. But then, he heard a distant door open and close and heard soft footsteps from somewhere toward the back of the house.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            After another minute or so, the last two people from the night before, walked into the room. They were sweaty and Stiles’ face was red, if the situation weren’t so serious Kyle might even have laughed at the obvious beard burn on Stiles’ face. Derek had a sour face but nodded at them, Stiles smiled and waved.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Hey guys.” He said, a bit out of breath. “Nice to see you again.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael was again confused by their weird forced non-awkward-ness. It was like they were all reading from a script.   </p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “So, I think you met Stiles at the library yesterday, but I don’t think you’ve officially met Derek.” Allison spoke up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Again, Derek just looked at them, this time raising his hand slightly in begrudged greeting.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Uh, yeah, we met Stiles, but I’m Kyle, and this is Alex and Michael.” Kyle said, a bit awkwardly. He quickly shut up and took a sip of water.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael was tired of the pretending and engaging in small talk with these people. He didn’t need to be introduced to everyone, he needed information. He was getting more and more tense by the second.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “So, what’s this all about?” Michael blurted out, before Derek and Stiles even had the chance to sit down. “Tell us about the forest and the prison.” Alex shot him an exasperated look.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Calm down.” Alex said under his breath, putting his hand on Michael’s leg. Michael glared at him but stayed quiet. Derek and Stiles finally did sit, joining Lydia and Jackson on the last couch. Alex cleared his throat and continued to the rest of the room. “Sorry, we’re just all a bit confused about everything. We just want some answers.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay, but we want some answers too.” Scott said. This surprised Alex, he was expecting to mostly be talking to Derek, as he seemed to be the leader, but now Scott appeared to be taking charge.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay, well how about a one for one exchange to get started. We answer a question, you answer a question.” Alex bargained, turning his negotiating skills on Scott. He figured this might be the only way to get the conversation going.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Scott glanced quickly at Derek before looking back at Alex and nodding.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “That sounds fair.” He sat up a bit straighter. “You can go first if you want.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Well, honestly before we get into everything about the prison, I really need to know how you found us? I am very good at hiding, and you shouldn’t have been able to follow or find us.” Alex said, ignoring Michael’s anxiety next to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Stiles sniggered a little at the question.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Dude, werewolves.” He said, like that made it obvious.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “What Stiles is trying to say,” Derek said through his teeth, glaring again at Stiles, “is that Isaac first smelled you at the diner the other night.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, then yesterday, when I saw you guys, I figured you were probably the same dudes Isaac was talking about. He came, smelled you guys again, said you weren’t human. Last night we didn’t really follow you, but Scotty and Isaac found your scent in the library and we tracked it to your hotel room.” Stiles said this all quiet quickly, barely taking a breath. “Ta Da, we found you! Werewolf style.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, you said that last night, that I don’t smell human?” Michael asked. “If I don’t smell human, then what the hell do I smell like?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Technically we already answered your question, it’s our turn.” Stiles said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael nearly growled at him. Scott rolled his eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Um, you kinda smell like rain? Or maybe a river?” Scott began. He took an obvious sniff. “But like more than any human ever would. Like humans have a base scent of human even under all the other things they smell like. You don’t really have that, your base smell is overwhelmingly rainy, but on top of that you kinda smell like grease, and nail polish remover.” Scott looked up after that and smiled apologetically.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            It was Alex and Kyle’s turn to laugh quietly. They had said on a few different occasions that Michael smelled like a river, or like the air right before it began to rain. Michael reddened, then glared at his partners.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay, our turn.” Stiles interrupted. “How did you know about the prison? I know it was a secret government prison, and like, no one knows about it, even now, after its been abandoned for like 60 years.” It was obvious Scott was trying to lead the questioning, but Stiles seemed to be a steamroller, speaking before anyone else could.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I’m military, my whole family is military.” Alex began. “There was another undercover prison called Caulfield near where we live. My dad was running it, has been illegally running it for a decade now, even after the military officially closed it. We shut it down, permanently, a month or so back. But, I have been looking at all my dad’s files from the place, and I found a few mentions of another prison. No name, just said it was near Beacon Hills. So, we came here to see if we could find any more information, and to see if we needed to permanently shut this one down too.” Alex glossed over the fact that when he said ‘permanently’ he meant ‘blow the place up’.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay, so top secret military documents led you to Beacon Hills?” Stiles asked. “That’s both really cool, and really bad.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Bad?” Alex asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, I mean, we don’t really want the military or anyone else, for that matter, coming here and sticking their noses in our business.” Stiles continued.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “We would prefer if that didn’t happen,” This time it was Derek’s deep voice that said something, “Do you know if anyone else might be coming?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I’m not sure, I don’t think anyone else has read the documents I found, they’ve been sitting in a filing cabinet for a long time. But, my dad might know about this place, and he or his men might come to clear it out, which is why we are here, to make sure we get to it first.” Alex answered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Scott gave Derek a significant look at that information. Michael spoke up before anyone else could try and ask more about that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Our turn right? Great. I want to know what’s with last night and the whole ‘You can’t go there’ why are you trying to keep us from going to the prison?” Michael asked glaring directly from Derek to Scott and back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Scott looked at Derek again, a little unsure, then to Stiles, who nodded and made a ‘go ahead’ motion.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “So, uh, this might sound weird, but we’re not sure.” Scott started, looking back at Michael with a puzzled expression. “We don’t go there, like not to the prison, or even that part of the forest. We run near there sometimes, on our territory perimeter checks, but we don’t get too close to it.” He scratched his head at this, looked up at nothing, and continued on. “It has bad vibes.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “It has bad vibes?” Michael nearly yelled. “Are you a hippie? What the hell does that even mean? What’s actually going on?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex groaned, Michael didn’t seem to understand that they should at least be trying to be civil with these people if they wanted answers. Yelling and calling them names was definitely not something Michael should be doing. Alex grabbed Michael’s leg again, this time squeezing it, hoping he would get the message and be more polite.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay, maybe vibes was a bad way to say it, but I don’t know how to describe it.” Scott said, thankfully ignoring Michael’s abuse.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “That part of the forest it dark.” Derek began seriously. “Not like there is no light, but like completely dark to our senses. No one that I know of, in my family, has ever been in that part of the forest. We can’t hear anything coming from it or smell anything, and it’s been that way since at least my grandmother’s time. She always said never to go there.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            It sounded a bit like a ghost story to Alex. He didn’t understand how no one found that weird, and even if it fucked with the werewolves’ senses, why none of the humans had gone to investigate either.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “And you don’t find that weird?” Michael asked exasperated. “None of you thought, ‘hmmm, I wonder what’s in there, maybe we should see?’”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “That’s the other strange part.” Scott took over again. “Until you started asking questions last night, it didn’t actually seem weird.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, so that got us thinking.” Stiles butted in. “What could be going on in that prison and that part of the forest that is completely bamboozling the wolves? Like, I haven’t gone there either, but I never had a reason to, or a reason to think it was something worth investigating. But now? Now I think we need to look into it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Wait, so you all really don’t know anything about the prison? The prison that’s in your town? The town that you apparently guard enough to notice when anyone new arrives?” Michael asked, still unconvinced.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, man. I’m not sure what’s going on.” Scott replied. “Looking back this is all really weird, but until last night it just kinda seemed normal, like nothing was going on.” He looked a little confused again. “But now we need to figure it out, we need to find out what’s happening.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “If you don’t know what’s going on, or anything else about the prison itself, how about you just leave it to us?” Alex said. “I have training, and we took care of the other prison. Let us finish up our investigation, and we’ll let you know what we find.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Not happening.” Derek nearly roared. “This is our territory, if you want to do anything else in our town, you do it with us, or not at all.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Oh yeah? You gonna’ stop us?” Michael sneered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “From what happened last night, you think you have a chance against us?” Derek barked back, rising slightly from his seat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Oh, fuck you.” Michael began before being interrupted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay boys, calm down.” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. He put a hand on Derek’s shoulder and pushed him back down on the couch. “And you say I’m the dramatic one.” He whispered to himself, and then said, “Before you fight, how about you listen to my plan.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Derek huffed but looked at Stiles expectantly; Michael glared but didn’t say anything.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I think this calls for a good, old-fashioned, team up. Scooby-Doo style. I think we should all go together and investigate. You guys know more about what to expect from the prison, but we know more about these woods and what could be lurking. So, I think if all of us can put our, significant,” He glared at Derek at this, “egos aside, we could all benefit, and figure this out as quickly as possible.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex looked at Kyle and Michael, silently getting their okays, before he turned back to Stiles. Michael only rolled his eyes, but Alex took that as a yes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I think we can work with that.” He said, nodding.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Great.” Stiles said, nudging Derek.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Fine, but its Scott’s call.” Derek said, still angry but resigned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Oh, um, yeah, sounds good.” Scott said, like he was just remembering he was in charge.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            This again perplexed Alex, why was Derek deferring to Scott on this? He got why he might be willing to comply with Stiles, Stiles seemed like he took over everything he was a part of if you gave him enough time, but Scott didn’t seem like he outranked Derek. Then again, Alex was thinking like a soldier, maybe werewolves were different.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Good thinking Scotty.” Stiles said, giving him a thumbs up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay,” Alex said, taking a deep breath. “What’s the plan?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Everything is ramping up now! A mystery is afoot. </p>
<p>Comments and Kudos are welcomed and encouraged!</p>
<p>Love to all.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>           <em> “Okay,” Alex said, taking a deep breath. “What’s the plan?”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I think we’re going to need to split up.” Allison said, her training as a tactician kicking in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Split up? I thought the point was to stick together?” Stiles asked. “What about the Scooby Gang?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I just think we are going to need two groups.” Allison continued.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, one to go to the prison itself, and the other to investigate that part of the forest.” Alex contributed, understanding what Allison wanted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I think that sounds better,” Scott added, “that way we don’t make as much sound, and we can look into both at the same time.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “But do we actually think these are two separate things?” Michael asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Not sure, but this was we can figure it out, and if they <em>are</em> separate, we’ll have people on both.’’ Scott responded.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Right, they’re probably at least related, but even if they’re not, we’ll have people dealing with both.” Allison agreed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay, well, let’s figure this out and get out there.” Michael said, anxiety returning to his tone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I think we should go tomorrow.” Derek’s low voice butted in. “We can spend today coming up with a good plan, and contingencies, and if we get an early start we’ll have a lot more daylight.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael groaned, they kept putting this off. He wanted answers and no else seemed to share his urgency. He turned to Alex for help.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Aren’t you worried your dad’s people will come if we keep putting it off.” Michael asked him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, I am. I mean how do we even know they haven’t destroyed the place already.” Alex said. “Maybe going today would be better, even if we get less light.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “No one has been there yet.” Derek said. “I’ve had Jackson and Isaac doing perimeter checks every few hours, since last night. So far, no one has been there. Plus no one new in town except you guys.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay, that makes me feel a bit better.” Alex said. “If you keep checking throughout today and tonight, then I think we can wait until the morning.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael sighed again, he was unbelievably frustrated by the lack of urgency he saw in everyone. He needed information, the faster the better, that way they could destroy the prison, and move on. He could go back home to help Max, and tell Isobel actual information about other aliens, rather than his assumptions, like he had been up until that point.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            This time it was Kyle that put a hand on Michael’s knee. Michael looked over at Kyle abruptly, ready to be annoyed by his placation. But Kyle’s face just held understanding, he rubbed Michael’s back then, soothing him. Michael took a breath, still annoyed by the lack of speed they were going at, but knew there wasn’t much he could do at this point. He could go investigate on his own, but he knew Kyle and Alex would not only catch him at it, but hate him for lying, and he was trying his best to be as honest as possible with his partners.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Fine, two groups, tomorrow morning. But if we put it off anymore, I’m gonna have a lot more to say.” Michael threatened.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay,” Derek glared, “well based on what we’ve talked about I think, Allison, Alex and I should go to the prison. Scott should take Michael and Kyle with him into the forest. The rest can stay behind and watch for anybody new in town or anyone acting suspicious.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Um, no.” Stiles said immediately. “We are all going, you might need Lydia or I in a pinch, plus Isaac and Jackson are always good in a fight, if it comes to that.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Stiles, we really don’t need everyone, it will just complicate things.” Derek growled back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “And when you don’t come back because no one was there to help you, what are we gonna do then.” Stiles asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “So dramatic, all the time, we will be fine.” Derek said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Actually, I agree with Stiles.” Scott said. “I think the more the better for this stuff. We don’t know much, so having Lydia and Stiles there may be helpful.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Derek rolled his eyes, but gave a ‘go ahead’ gesture to Scott.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Stiles and Jackson are with me, Michael, and Kyle. We’ll be in the forest looking for possible reasons it has gone dark. Also, looking into anything that may have to do with Oak Creek Prison. Derek and Allison will take Alex, Lydia, and Isaac and head to the prison itself, find all the info you can. How does that sound?” Scott recapped.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex looked at Michael and Kyle, he didn’t love the idea of splitting up from them for this. He also knew that Michael would want to be on the prison team.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I’m going to the prison.” Michael said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Actually I think it’s better if you don’t.” Kyle said. “Alex knows what he’s doing, but I don’t really, I think it would be better if you stick with me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I need to go to the prison, what if there are alien artifacts?” Michael asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “If there are, I will get them. I promise.” Alex said. He agreed with Kyle, Michael definitely didn’t need to go to the prison, especially with what happened at Caulfield. He didn’t want Michael to go through anything like that again if they found evidence of more torture. “But I really think you should go to the forest.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Again Michael was unbelievably annoyed. It seemed like his opinions didn’t matter to his partners or the group in general.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Alex. What?” Michael pleaded with him. “I need to go to the prison.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I’m just afraid of another Caulfield if you see anything upsetting.” Alex said quietly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            That left Michael speechless. He looked away from Alex, he couldn’t believe him. He felt betrayed, all he wanted was to find out more about who he was, Alex should understand that, but instead Alex wasn’t even trusting him to come to the prison at all. Kyle was rubbing his back again, Michael appreciated the gesture, but right now all he wanted to do was yell, and maybe punch something.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah.” Michael finally said to the group after clearing his throat. His tone was clipped and filled with frustration.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            The others were looking at Alex and Michael, not wanting to get involved, but not looking away either.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay, so we have teams.” Scott said hesitantly. “What do you think we should expect when we go tomorrow?” This he asked to Alex and Allison.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            They all discussed expectations for a while. After talking in circles they realized they needed to be prepared for almost anything, due to the lack of knowledge they had. The humans would bring a few weapons, Alex’s gun, Allison’s bow, etc. but they couldn’t really prepare beyond that for any prospective fighting.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Derek did have a map of the area, and they sat around it for a bit, marking where the prison was, and what part of the forest they wanted to search. They also discussed best points of entry for the different teams. After a while though, there wasn’t much else they could prepare for, and the meeting came to an end.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael, Kyle, and Alex got along pretty well with the other group, despite the occasional male posturing. Michael was tired though, and he still kind of wanted to yell at Alex for the comments earlier. He really just wanted to go back to the hotel and crash until the next day when he could actually be useful.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “You guys are welcome to hang around for an early dinner.” Stiles invited. “We do a whole pack thing, so there’s plenty of food.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “That would be great.” Kyle said immediately, not wanting to be rude, but also wanting to get to know these people a bit better, personally, before risking his life with them tomorrow.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael internally groaned again, would this day never end?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex felt the tension in Michael’s body increase again at Kyle’s answer. He knew Michael was mad at him, and that the day had held about as much interaction with other people as Michael could tolerate.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Dinner would be good, but we can’t stay much after that.” Alex said. “Need to prepare for tomorrow, plus we didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Ha, yeah, sorry about that.” Scott said with a smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yay, dinner party.” Stiles said and clapped. Derek just rolled his eyes, yet again. “Jackson, Lydia, come help me get stuff started.” Both of them grumbled at that but followed Stiles anyway.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            They disappeared into what Kyle could only assume was the kitchen. Allison and Alex began catching up again, so Kyle turned his attention toward the remaining people in the room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            As Kyle made small talk with the other members of the pack, Michael remained quiet. After a few minutes amazing smells started coming from the kitchen, everyone perked up at that, and stomachs started making noises.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Smells good.” Kyle said to Scott.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, Stiles is an amazing cook.” Scott smiled. “He’s making his famous pot roast, been cooking since this morning, you guys are in for a treat.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Isaac and Allison excused themselves to go help with dinner set up. That left Alex, Michael, and Kyle to talk with the Derek and Scott, the presumed leaders of the group.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex couldn’t figure them out, his military training was confused by the lack of command structure. He was curious enough, and they had spoken enough now he thought it might okay to ask about it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “It seems to me that wolves usually come in packs, and you guys seem like you’ve formed a pack here. If you don’t mind me asking, is one of you actually in charge?” Alex asked, still a little hesitant.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Scott immediately turned red. He looked frustrated and a little embarrassed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Scott’s Alpha.” Derek said with a stern face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Alpha?” Kyle asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, Alpha, the leader. I’m a beta, so are all the other wolves here.” Derek continued.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I don’t have a ton of werewolf experience. I was bitten in high school, so Derek helps me, he used to be Alpha, but now he’s my second.” Scott adds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex furrowed his brow, about to ask more questions, now even more confused by their command structure.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Scott’s a good Alpha, if not a great diplomat.” Derek said this with a sly grin. Scott scowled but looked at Derek without any heat. Alex felt like he was missing an inside joke. Scott and Derek seemed like they really didn’t want this conversation to continue. That was confirmed, to Alex, when Scott looked up and purposefully changed the subject.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “So, Alex, you’re in the military, right? What do you guys do?” Scott asked the other two. Alex nodded and let the other conversation go, following Scott’s lead into the new subject.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Oh, uh, I’m a doctor.” Kyle said. “A surgeon.” Alex smiled at this, always so proud of how much Kyle had accomplished and changed since high school.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Oh, cool, I’m a veterinarian, just finished my degree.” Scott said. “What about you Michael, besides like, being an alien?” Scott turned to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Besides being an alien?” Michael said unbelieving. “I’m a mechanic.” He looked down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Oh, you should talk to Stiles. Did you see that Jeep outside? That’s his, he’s rebuilt it so many times, he’s not very good at it, but he likes it.” Scott said, he seemed to be honestly interested in anything any of the visitors said. “Oh, and Derek has a pretty cool car too.” He added, looking over at the mostly silent man.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Camaro.” Derek grunted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Cool.” Michael grunted back. Scott, Kyle, and Alex all rolled their eyes at the two laconic men now engaging in a staring contest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Before any of them could continue the conversation, Stiles stuck his head around the corner and smiled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Food’s ready!” He said, clapping his hands together.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Derek got up and went to Stiles, he put his hand on Stiles’ lower back as they both walked to the next room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Kyle, Alex, and Michael got up to follow along behind Scott.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Are they dating?” Kyle asked Scott in a whisper. Before Scott could answer, Derek popped his head back in with a wicked grin, teeth elongated, growling. Kyle jumped, and Derek turned back around and left again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Werewolf hearing, dude.” Scott said, pointing to his own ears. “We hear everything.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Kyle turned a bit red, but by the time the joined the others in the dining room, the question was forgotten.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            The dining room was just off the kitchen, with a table that could probably fit twenty if they squeezed. Kyle wondered if there were more members of the pack they hadn’t met yet, or if they just had a lot of guests. He was quickly distracted by the food that sat on said table.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Two large bowls of mashed potatoes, several different dished filled with veggies, a large batch of what looked to be home made rolls, and, in the center, one of the biggest pot roasts Kyle had ever seen. It was truly a feast, which Kyle thought, made sense if you were feeding werewolves. His mouth began to water as they all sat down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            All the food was passed around, everyone complementing Stiles on the bounty of food.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Wow, this looks great.” Kyle said, eyes wide.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Thanks, its my mom’s old recipe, I make it for the pack once a month or so. It’s a fan favorite.” Stiles grinned back, taking a large bite out of his roll.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael, Alex, and Kyle all dug into the food with gusto, each making different sounds of pleasure.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Fuck, that’s good.” Michael said, meat and potatoes still in his mouth. Alex glared at his lack of manners, but Stiles just grinned, his mouth equally as full.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            About half way through the meal, Michael brought up a question that had been plaguing him for a while.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “So, you four,” He pointed to Scott, Derek, Jackson, and Isaac, “are wolves. So I get how you fit together, but how did the rest of you become a pack?” Michael asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Short version?” Stiles said. “Most of us went to high school together, and got mixed up in the supernatural.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, Derek’s uncle bit me when we were 16. That’s how we met Derek. And Stiles and I have been friends since first grade.” Scott added.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, then about a year later, Isaac got bit, and then Jackson.” Stiles continued. “Though Jackson was a weird lizard thing for a while.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael raised his eyebrows at this, but Stiles just waved him off and continued with his story.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “He got better. Scott dated Allison, Allison was friends with Lydia, et cetera.” Stiles said, waving his hands. “It took a while, but now we’re one big happy family.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “So it’s just you guys, we don’t need to worry about any other supernatural beings in the forest tomorrow?” Michael continued.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, just us. I mean, that we know of, like we said, this is all weird, so there may be someone out there we don’t know about. But it’s definitely not other wolves.” Scott said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Good, so no vampires or wizards I have to worry about.” Michael chuckled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Stiles face scrunched up, he looked at Michael and grinned nervously.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “What?” Michael asked. Alex and Kyle were now paying a lot closer attention to Michael’s conversation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Well.” Stiles said. “Technically, wolves aren’t the only things. Like we’ve never run into vampires or wizards, but we have dealt with lots of other stuff. Plus, you know, when you’ve been in a pack this long, things are bound to happen.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “What Stiles means,” Lydia interrupted before Michael could ask what the hell he was talking about, “is that I’m not exactly human either. I’m a banshee, you can just say it Stiles.” She said, rolling her eyes. “I can sense death. Which has come in handy on a few occasions.” She continued.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            That left Michael speechless. Now he had to worry about death spirits. He could barely even comprehend this new information, when Stiles was butting back in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Also, I’m not like a wizard, but I can do a bit of magic. Not like ‘pick a card, any card’ magic, but legit stuff. Just little stuff, I’ve been learning.” Stiles added with a smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael was done at this point. He didn’t want to know any more about these people, he just wanted to go back to the hotel and sleep, maybe find out this was all a dream.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            They stayed a bit longer, finishing up dinner, and chatting some more. All the while, Kyle continuously asked questions about their supernatural abilities. He was particularly intrigued by the wolves’ healing powers. Alex was more interested in the magic Stiles could wield, and asked questions about its uses in combat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael, honestly, just wanted to forget he ever met these people. They were nice enough, and he was glad for the help they could give, but all of this just seemed to be distracting them from their goal. All Michael could think of, was Oak Creek Prison and the possibility of more aliens, or at least more information about aliens. His heart yearned for more people like him, and he was upset that Kyle and Alex didn’t seem to understand his wishes. He needed them, and everyone else, back on task. He got up from where they had taken a seat, back in the living room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Well, we should get going, early morning and all.” He said, eyeing Kyle and Alex for signs of annoyance. They both looked a bit put out, abruptly ending their conversations. They both wanted to continue questioning the other group about everything supernatural, but Michael, who had lived with the ‘supernatural’ his whole life, was already tired of it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “We’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Allison said, walking them to the door, the rest of the pack hanging back slightly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Bright and early.” Alex agreed. Kyle, Michael, and Alex put their shoes back on and exited the house. From the porch they turned back around.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “It was nice meeting you all properly.” Kyle said, ever the diplomat. Michael privately thought it was nicer to meet some of them than others.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex gave Allison a hug as Stiles waved from where he stood next to Derek, who looked about as bored as possible. Scott nodded a goodbye as well and then the door closed and the three men walked back to their SUV.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            All three hoped they had made the right choice in trusting these people, and that tomorrow would bring the answers they were looking for.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey all! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Despite quarantine, I had actual THINGS to do this week, so sorry it was a bit of a longer wait than usual.</p>
<p>The next chapter is a bit shorter, but then the real action starts!</p>
<p>Comments and Kudos are always cherished by my attention seeking heart!</p>
<p>Love to all!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>            The ride back to the hotel was mostly quiet, each person thinking about what they had learned today, and what they were going to do tomorrow. Michael was still frustrated and angry with both his partners for their lack of trust in him. He was also still irritated that they both ignored his wishes earlier, regarding the plan for the next day.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            When they finally got back to the hotel, Alex and Kyle headed inside, but Michael hung back a bit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I’m gonna’ give Izzy a call, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Michael called to the other two, trying to avoid a confrontation as long as possible. He also realized he hadn’t talked to Isobel in a few days, and knew he needed to update her. He got out his phone and dialed her number, listened to it ring, but it was answered by someone he didn’t expect.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Hey Mikey.” Liz answered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Uh, hey Liz. I could have sworn I called Isobel.” Michael said back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, but she couldn’t answer, so you got me instead.” Liz said, sarcasm in her voice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “And where is my sister?” Michael asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Um, she’s in with Max right now, in his head I mean, trying to see if she can contact him.” Liz said hesitantly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Oh.” Michael said. “And how is Max doing?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “He’s okay. His numbers are getting better, but still no signs of waking up. We’ll see if Isobel is able to contact him. But overall he’s doing fine.” She said, a little bit of sadness taking over her voice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “That’s good, that’s good.” Michael said. “Let me know if you need me to come back, okay?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “No, Mikey. We’re okay.” Liz said quietly. “How are you and the boys?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “We’re fine. Oh, I meant to say, tell Iz we’re going to the prison tomorrow. It seems safe enough, but just let her know for me.” Michael added.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Will do. But how are you Michael, last time I saw you, you weren’t doing so well.” Liz continued, concerned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I’m okay, a little pissed off at Alex right now, but I’m okay.” Michael said with a laugh.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “What’d he do?” Liz asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Nothin’, we’ll figure it out, you know how Alex and Kyle can be.” Michael replied.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yes I do, one of them is one of my best friends, and I dated the other. So, again, what did they do?” Liz asked more seriously this time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “You know how they get. They’re trying to look after me, but are just ignoring what I want instead, same old story. I can’t exactly be mad, I know they’re trying to protect me, but it’s just getting frustrating.” Michael said, honestly, tired of not talking about it with anyone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “You should tell them. You’ve never been afraid to tell them where to stick it before.” Liz said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, but it’s been going so well, I don’t want to upset the balance, you know. Plus we’re going to the prison tomorrow, and I don’t want to start a fight tonight.” Michael replied, sighing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Mikey. Tell them.” Liz said sternly. “It’s better to tell them now, and not let it slowly eat away at you. Plus, you aren’t going to upset the balance or whatever. They’re your partners. They love you. Tell them.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Bossy.” Michael said, but Liz was just affirming what he had wanted to do anyway. He had called for Isobel partly for the same reason, so she could let him know it was the right way to handle it. “Yeah, I’ll go yell at them.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Michael.” Liz said warningly. “Just tell them why what they did hurt you. I’m sure they will understand.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, yeah, okay. Thanks for the therapy session.” Michael said. “I’m gonna’ go, but please tell Isobel I love her, I’ll try and call after we go to the prison tomorrow.” Michael said, preparing himself to go inside.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay, Mikey.” Liz said softly. “We’ll text if anything changes. Be carful tomorrow, and after you call Alex and Kyle out on their bullshit, tell them I love them. And you too.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Thanks Liz. You too. Bye.” Michael said before hanging up. He took a deep breath and headed into the hotel.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            When Michael got back to the room, he noticed the door was still broken, they really needed to do something about that. He entered only to find Kyle set up on Alex’s computer, probably answering work e-mails, and the sound of the shower running. He decided he would wait until they were both there to say anything, so Michael went about changing out of his clothes from the day.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            A few minutes later, the sound of the water stopped and Alex came back in on his crutches, towel still around his waist.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “How was Isobel?” He asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Oh, she was busy with Max so I talked to Liz instead.” Michael said. He was now clad only in his boxers, leg bouncing up and down, massaging his left hand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Oh, how is she?” Alex asked again, picking up on Michael’s anxiety as he pulled on his underwear and a tank.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “She’s good, they’re good. Said to say hi.” Michael said, distracted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex nudged Kyle, who looked up and saw Michael’s body language, and shut his computer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “What’s up?” Kyle asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Huh?” Michael said, looking up, like he just noticed the other two in the room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex sat on the bed and smacked the place next to him, inviting Michael to sit there. Michael eyed the seat for a few seconds before he joined Alex, Kyle in a chair a few feet from them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Michael, what’s wrong?” This time it was Alex who was asking.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael was trying really hard to figure out how to tell them he was mad without yelling. He had been trying to improve his ‘anger management’, as Isobel called it, and really didn’t want to start a full-blown fight right now. He cleared his throat and started to explain how annoyed he was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Today, you really pissed me off.” Michael started, looking from Alex to Kyle and back again. “Like, I know, you are both just trying to protect me or whatever, but you still need to like trust me sometimes.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “We do trust you Michael.” Alex said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Do you? Really, do you?” Michael asked back. “Cause today, you completely ignored me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I didn’t ignore you.” Alex fought back. “I just really don’t think going into the prison tomorrow will be good for you. I don’t want another Caulfield, I don’t want you to hurt like that again.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “But that’s my decision, not yours!” Michael yelled. He stood up and started pacing, running a hand through his curls. “You don’t get to decide that, especially since this has to do with alien stuff.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I was just trying to protect you.” Alex said lightly, looking upset.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I know.” Michael said. “I know that, but that’s part of the problem. I love you but I can take care of myself.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “We know you can.” Kyle interrupted. “We know you can take care of yourself, you’ve been doing it your whole life. But that doesn’t mean you have to keep doing it now. Now you have us to help, you have people that can take care of you sometimes, take some of the burden.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I’m trying, I really am. I love that you want to help me, but not in this instance. These could be my people, I’ve been looking for answers for so long. And you both are making it harder at every turn.” Michael cried.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Well, I didn’t mean to.” Alex said, still quiet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I know you didn’t mean to.” Michael said back, voice returning to normal. “I know that, but you still did. You just didn’t listen to me today, and I’m really mad about it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I’m sorry.” Alex said, shrugging.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Me too.” Kyle said, standing and rubbing Michael’s arms. “I’m really sorry.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay.” Michael breathed out, all fight leaving him, as he sagged back onto the bed. “Okay.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Do you want to switch places tomorrow? What can I do to make this better?” Alex asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “No, you’re the best option for going to the prison, I just wish we could have discussed it.” Michael said back. “I’m not sure anything can make this better, I just want answers.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “And hopefully we will get them tomorrow.” Kyle said, ever the optimist.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah.” Michael said, his head already somewhere else, sadness still in his voice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Kyle looked over to Alex, he didn’t think Michael was really mad at them exactly, but more mad at the situation. Mad that he couldn’t control what was about to happen, mad he didn’t have answers. Alex felt bad, but honestly thought they had made the best decision today. He looked back at Kyle and smiled weakly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Why don’t you go take a shower and relax a bit?” Kyle asked Michael quietly. “Then we can watch a movie or something.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, okay.” Michael replied, turning to go into the bathroom.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            The fight wasn’t exactly resolved, none of them were even sure it was a fight. Michael’s frustrations had overwhelmed him, and Kyle and Alex knew they should have discussed everything more. The situation was so filled with tension that none of them had had a chance to breath and think about things. Tomorrow would hopefully bring answers, but it would no doubt bring more questions too. There didn’t seem to be an end in sight for this mounting feeling of pressure and unease.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            When Michael finished with his shower and came back into the main room, Alex and Kyle were already in the bed. Michael joined them and all three stared at the ceiling for a few minutes in silence.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex intertwined his fingers into Michael’s left hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Fuck.” Michael whispered, before silent tears started to run down his face. “I got my hopes up too high, what if we don’t find anything tomorrow? What if this was all for nothing?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “It’s not all for nothing. We’ll find something.” Kyle said, petting Michael’s curls.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “You don’t know that.” Michael said, he felt like there was a lump in his throat, he was trying not to cry. He didn’t know why he was so upset.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “You’re right, I don’t.” Kyle replied. His heart ached for Michael, he didn’t know what he would do if their places were switched. Not knowing where you came from or anything about yourself. Yeah, Michael had Isobel and Max, but neither of them knew anything either. Kyle could only sadly imagine what it would be like to be Michael. Michael had found more people like him, only for them to be ripped from his grasp minutes later. Now, to have that possibility for a second time, Kyle didn’t think anyone could handle that well.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “No matter what happens tomorrow,” Alex said, “you’ll still have us, no matter what. I know that might not help right now, but just know that we love you.” He kissed along Michael’s jaw, up to cheeks, kissing away the flowing tears.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            On the other side, Kyle continued to run his fingers through Michael’s hair, trying to help him relax for the night.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I know.” Michael said, his tears slowing, exhaustion taking their place. “God, I love you. I just don’t know what to do.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “We’ll figure it all out, no matter what happens tomorrow, we’ll figure it out together.” Kyle whispered. He turned off the final light that was on in the room, then he cuddled against Michael’s side and continued trying to comfort his partner.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay.” Michael breathed. He took another deep breath, and then another. As his eyes drooped more and more, the anxiety of the day still ever present, he hoped they were right. He fell asleep, comforted by his partners, but still horribly uneasy about what was to come.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is the last chapter before the real action starts!</p>
<p>It's a little bit of a shorter chapter, but I hope you enjoy nevertheless.</p>
<p>Also, I was in a weird mood whilst writing it.</p>
<p>Love to all!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next morning Alex, Michael, and Kyle met up with the pack around sunrise. They took the SUV to the rendezvous point and found the others already waiting, most of them still yawning and sipping coffee. Alex wished they had had time to eat a proper breakfast and drink coffee, but their morning had been full of sluggishness and worry. The night before had left all three of them with a weight on their shoulders and misery in their hearts. They hoped what they found today, no matter what it was, would help to relieve that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They got out of the car to greet the others, waving and saying tired ‘hello’s and ‘good morning’s.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright let’s get going.” Derek said almost as soon as they finished their greetings. He seemed not only tired, but grumpy as well, bags under his eyes and a frown marring his face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, just give us a sec.” Kyle waved him off. He then turned back to the other two and herded them in, close to the car. He kept his voice low, as he continued talking, this time just to Michael and Alex. “Be carful today.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I will.” Alex said smiling. “Both of you stick together, and stay out of too much trouble, if you can.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You too.” Michael added, a small smile on his face, trying not to bring the mood too far down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Do you have everything you need?” Kyle asked Alex. Not wanted to say goodbye just yet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, I got everything. I think we’re all as prepared as we can be.” Alex said back, offering some assurance.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I really wish we weren’t splitting up today.” Michael added, looking toward the other group, a few yards away.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They seemed to be doing the same thing the trio was doing, saying last quick goodbyes before they started their explorations. Stiles was standing up against Derek, whose back was to the other car, and seemed to be giving him reassurances. This only confirmed what the others had suspected, that the two were more than just packmates. Stiles proceeded to place his hand of Derek’s jaw and give him a sweet, quick kiss before backing away slightly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A few paces from them, Scott, Allison, and Isaac seemed to be in a similar conversation to Alex, Michael, and Kyle. All three touching each other and talking quietly, Allison and Isaac seemed to be telling Scott to keep out of trouble. They too gave each other quick kisses before breaking up into their two teams and joining the others, ready to get going.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michael turned back to Kyle and Alex. He knew he would be with Kyle the whole time, but was still worried about the day in general. What he was really concerned about, however, was what Alex had to do.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Please stay safe.” Michael said, voice still low. “Don’t do anything dangerous, or something that one of the others can handle better. Okay?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, Michael.” Alex said, a bit of sarcasm in his voice, but still agreeing to Michael’s wishes. “I’ll be fine. You guys will be fine. I love you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Love you too. Stay safe.” Kyle said, giving Alex a peck on the lips.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alex turned to Michael, took his face in his hands and kissed him. When he finished he touched his forehead to Michael’s.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I love you. Everything’s gonna be okay.” He smiled and turned to go join the group that was headed to the prison.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alex left his SUV for Kyle and Michael’s group to use, just in case, and hopped into the other car. He had his large backpack, filled with everything he thought he might need, with him, and threw it in beside himself. As he heard the engine turn over and the car started to drive away he put his hand up in a last quick goodbye to the other team.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Here we go.” Allison said from right next to him. Derek, Allison, Isaac, and Lydia all sat in the car with him, each quiet for a few moments as they thought about what they might find in just a few minutes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As they got further and further into the forest on the dirt road that lead away from the main highway, the tension and anticipation got more and more noticeable. This seemed to be even more true for Derek and Isaac, with every passing moment their backs would get straighter, and it looked like it was getting harder and harder for them to keep control. Alex cleared his throat, trying to get everyone’s attention, and maybe distract them slightly from what was coming.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“According to the maps, we should see Oak Creek coming up in about a quarter mile.” Alex said, pointing ahead and to the left of the road. Just like he thought, a few seconds later the trees opened slightly into a clearing, and at the opposite edge stood the great stone building they had been looking for. “Slow down, I want to make sure we don’t trip any sensors before we get out.” Alex said as he grabbed his tablet from his bag. He had a program on there for basic sensor and device detection, he used it to do a scan but didn’t find anything in the immediate vicinity.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are we okay to leave the car here?” Derek asked, parking a few hundred yards from the prison and pulling the parking break.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, it looks good.” Alex replied as they piled out of the car. He again scanned around them but didn’t see anything pop up on his sensors. “Okay, stay behind me for now, until we get to the building.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They all made their way closer, Alex in the lead, slowly, as Alex continued to scan. When they reached about half way from the car to the building, Alex’s tablet started to beep with information. He stopped quickly and the rest all stood still behind him, waiting to see what it was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It looks like there’s something up there.” Alex pointed to a place a few yards ahead. “It’s in the ground, looks like some sort of electronic tripwire or alarm.” He glanced back at his tablet to confirm his suspicions. “Give me a sec, I’ll see if I can disarm it.” From the information he could gather from his program, the device didn’t seem to have gone off yet, which was good. However, it didn’t look like he would be able to hack into it from this far away either.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alex crept closer to the metal box, he could now see, sitting on the ground, covered by a bit of grass. When he got close enough that his tablet could detect it’s close range signal, he attempted to hack into it and turn off the device.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How’s it going up there?” Allison called softly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Trying to disable it now.” Alex called back. His concentration went back to hacking the device. It was fairly simple, and Alex just hoped it was put in long enough ago that it didn’t have any security functions that would let someone know it was under attack before he could fully deactivate it. He let his program run a bit longer, and finally the devise was shut off. It didn’t seem to have sent out any signals since the hacking started so Alex felt pretty safe that they were still flying under the radar. “Okay, it’s down, and it looks like there aren’t any more.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So we’re good?” Derek asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, I don’t think there are any more ground alarms, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something else.” Alex replied as they all resumed creeping closer to the prison.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So far the team hadn’t seen any indication that other people were there. The werewolves, though extremely nervous, didn’t hear or smell anything other than the forest around them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When they finally reached the main door, Alex stopped them again. There was a control panel attached to the door. It looked like an older version of modern fingerprint and password locked doors that Alex saw at Caulfield. He again started typing on his tablet, and realizing he wouldn’t be able to hack the lock remotely, got one of the many cables from his bag.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This is gonna’ take a few minutes.” He said to the rest of the group.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m going to go see if there’s another way in.” Allison replied, starting to walk away.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Be careful not to trip any alarms.” Alex called after her, they were all still keeping their voices low as to not give away their position, just incase people were actually there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They waited a few more minutes for Alex’s program to slowly break the electronic lock. Allison eventually came back and reported not finding any other entrances other than some locked windows and one other door with the same mechanism on it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, so, are you guys,” Alex indicated Derek and Isaac, “feeling anything coming from the prison? Like you were talking about yesterday, it being dark or something?” He asked this as he kept an eye on the door, his tablet indicating it would be done in less than two minutes now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Not really.” Isaac said as he sniffed the air quickly and looked around. “Yeah, nothing coming from the building I can sense.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“When we were driving I felt it coming from the woods, it got worse as we got closer, so I thought it was coming from here.” Derek started, he too looked around, trying to see if he had missed anything. “But then about a half mile before we got here, the feeling started to go away. By the time we parked I didn’t feel it all anymore, so I guess its not coming from the prison, like we thought. I think it’s actually coming from the forest itself.” Derek looked worried as he said this, face darker than usual as he continued to survey the area around the building.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Interesting.” Alex said as his program finished and the door made a beeping sound before they heard the lock disengage. “So, we probably aren’t going to find its source here. I hope the others don’t get into too much trouble out there.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alex pulled the door open and led the rest inside. The first thing he noticed was how much like Caulfield it was, in that there wasn’t anything particularly distinctive about it at all. They stayed as one group as they began to explore the building and try to find either a security room, or some other sort of base of operations. None of the internal doors seemed to be locked, leading Alex to believe the place had actually been shut down for quite a while, and wasn’t still hiding people or aliens in its walls.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This way.” Lydia said, pointing towards the door to their right. “There’s an echo coming from there.” Alex didn’t really understand how her ‘powers’ worked but the others seemed to believe her so he followed her directions and they went through the door.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Just like the large room in Caulfield, a room that never left his mind, they found themselves in an area lined with cells. There were maybe fifteen cells on each side of the room, each with a large window and an electronic lock on the door. Alex ran to the closest one and peered through the glass, but saw no one.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Check the cells.” He called to the others. “Make sure there isn’t anyone still in them.” Alex continued to check all the small rooms, each with a small cot, a toilet, a small sink, and a single light bulb in the ceiling.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>None of them found anyone, and weirder still, none of them found evidence that anyone had ever been inside the cells. They were all perfectly clean and bare except for a layer of dust, like no one had ever been imprisoned there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This is weird. Right?” Allison asked. “It looks like no one has ever been here, or that these were ever used.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, its strange.” Alex started looking around the rest of the large room, there were a few tables and some old shelves along one side. He went over, the tables held only lamps and a few scratches, dust adorning them as well. The shelves were a slightly different story, though mostly empty there were a few papers, books, and binders on them, but what was weirder, there was almost no dust on them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alex picked up one of the papers, but all it had on it was the U.S. Army letterhead, he set that aside and picked up one of the binders.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What’s that?” Derek asked coming over. “Did you find something?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Not sure yet.” Alex said, before he opened the binder. Again, nothing of much use, only a few pages of memos, that at a brief glance, were about inventory from when the military was originally moving in, and a few blank pages at the back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Check all of these.” Alex called to the rest of them, who were still looking around the room. “Call out if you find anything worth something.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They all started looking through everything, but again, none of them found anything of use or that indicated anything other than that the military used to be here. Nothing saying who or what was imprisoned there, no indication of any information on who worked there either. The few books on the shelves were small military procedure manuals, and a copy of ‘The Old Farmer’s Almanac’ from 1959.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Despite their lack of information, Alex still gathered it all and put it in his bag to look at more closely later. They walked back into the hallway and started exploring again. They found a set of stairs that led up to a small second floor, where only a short hallway and half dozen doors existed. Alex, still in the lead, pushed open the first door they came to and found, what looked to be, a small security office. He immediately went around to the computer bank, which looked like they were from the 90’s, and looked to see if anything could still be salvaged.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wait.” Isaac said, at the same time Derek started frantically looking around.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?” Alex asked, looking up quickly. His heart began to beat faster when he saw both Derek and Isaac sniffing the air and looking slightly panicked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Someone’s been here.” Derek said in a low voice. “Probably in the last few days, maybe more than one person.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>As soon as the car carrying Alex left their sight, Michael turned to the others. He sighed, the only word he could think of to describe them was ‘rag-tag’ and not in the fun way, more in the ‘this is all we got’ way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Which way?” He asked Scott.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Over here.” He pointed to the forest leading away from the right side of the road.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They started off and Michael was already annoyed by how slow they were going. Kyle grabbed his hand, running his thumb over Michael’s knuckles. If it were Alex, Michael would be confused, but Kyle was a bit more happy and open about public touching. It did calm Michael slightly as they began their trek.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So, what are we looking for?” Jackson asked from the back of the group.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Not sure, anything out of the ordinary.” Scott replied, looking to Kyle and Michael for any other suggestions.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We have as much info as you about these woods, less even.” Kyle said. “So, yeah, anything out of the ordinary.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After only a hundred feet or so the forest became much denser, which seemed fine for the werewolves, but the others began to find it hard to navigate without tripping or knocking into bushes and branches. However, with Scott leading the way, they managed to walk on without too much trouble.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shit.” Stiles exclaimed, as he tripped and fell to the earth, causing Kyle to nearly fall on top of him as he only just stopped in time. Stiles climbed his way back up with the help of Scott, and started to brush dirt and leaves from his front.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Really Stilinski, already?” Jackson asked snidely from behind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shut up, Jackson.” Stiles immediately shot back. They bickered back and forth for a few seconds before Scott shushed them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Be quiet.” Scott said, head cocked to the side. “I thought I heard something.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They all stood quietly but heard nothing, before Scott shook his head and started walking. After they had walked for about a mile, Scott stopped again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t think we’re going the right way.” He said. “I think we should head back.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?” Michael said. “That’s ridiculous, we just barely got out here.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No, Scott’s right, I don’t think we should go any farther.” Jackson jumped in. “We should just go back to the car and wait.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is this really happening again?” Stiles asked. “No, we keep going, you guys are obviously getting freaked out which means we are going in the right direction.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Scott and Jackson still didn’t budge, staying where they were, as Michael, Kyle, and Stiles continued to walk. Now that Michael was in the lead, he could feel that they were going in the right direction. Something was pulling him forward, he knew there was something out in the woods that would give him answers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Stop!” Scott yelled. “We can’t go.” His eyes started to change, red flecking the irises.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We’re going.” Michael yelled back, barely stopping to look around.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Come on.” Stiles gestured to Scott and Jackson. “This is obviously the right way.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Against their better judgment, Scott and Jackson followed behind the rest of the group at a much slower pace, paranoid by every snapped twig.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know this is going against your instincts, but I think this is a positive sign.” Kyle said, ever the peacekeeper.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Scott and Jackson continued to grow more and more weary as they walked on. However, Michael, and now Stiles too, felt a deep pull. Michael sped up again, Stiles and Kyle trying to keep up, all three now barely within shouting distance of the werewolves behind them. Then Michael saw something, and came to a halt, staring.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What is that?” Stiles asked, peering into the dense forest in front of them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What’s what?” Kyle asked, craning his neck around in confusion.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Holy shit.” Michael said in awe.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee</p>
<p>This fic hit 100 kudos! As this is my first fic I'm beyond excited about this milestone!</p>
<p>I hope you continue to enjoy reading it!</p>
<p>Love to all.❤️</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“Wait.” Isaac said, at the same time Derek started frantically looking around.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>“What?” Alex asked, looking up quickly. His heart began to beat faster when he saw both Derek and Isaac sniffing the air and looking slightly panicked.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Someone’s been here.” Derek said in a low voice. “Probably in the last few days, maybe more than one person.”</em>
</p>
<p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
<p>            “What? Someone’s been here?” Alex asked alarmed, thinking it could only be his dad or his dad’s people.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, I can smell someone. Maybe more than one person, not sure, it’s pretty faint.” Derek replied.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I thought you said you hadn’t seen anyone here, or in town.” Alex argued, confused about how they could have missed something. If someone had been there in the last few days they should have known.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “There hasn’t been anyone.” Isaac replied. “I mean, we never came inside, obviously, but we haven’t seen or smelled anyone new out here or in town.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Then who’s been here? Can you tell anything about them?” Alex asked, still on high alert.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Not really.” Derek replied, sniffing the air. “The smell isn’t familiar, and it definitely isn’t a wolf.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Well, are they here now?” Alex asked, standing up slightly from the table, ready to go on the attack if need be.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “No, not that I can tell. It feels more like they were here a few days ago, but the smell also lingers slightly.” Derek said again, Isaac nodding along.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, like they’ve been here a lot.” Isaac added.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “So, like someone is living here?” Alex asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Maybe someone’s squatting.” Lydia tried.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I don’t think so.” Derek replied. “If they were living or squatting here I think we would have noticed. They’re obviously covering their tracks.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay, but they aren’t here now?” Alex asked for clarification, Isaac’s shook his head, and Alex continued. “Okay, then we figure that out later, right now let’s get back to work, just be more alert, call out if you hear or sense anything.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Got it.” Allison said, as she grabbed Isaac, and started out the door. “We’re gonna’ check some more rooms, see if we can find anything.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex got back to checking the computers, as Derek and Lydia, started looking around the rest of the room for anything that might be useful. Despite what Alex knew, that the facility was officially closed in the 60’s, these computers and all the locks in the building were most likely from the late 90’s. So, like Caulfield this place had been up and running long after it was supposed to be. But with no aliens in sight, he wasn’t sure of its purpose.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex finally got one of the computers to boot up, using the power from his tablet, but found all the information was in code. He downloaded what he could, but knew it would take hours for his computer to get through.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Find anything?” Lydia asked, when Alex got up from behind the desk.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Maybe, but it needs to be decoded, so I can’t look at it right now.” Alex replied. “Anything else in here?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Not really, for a place that may have had aliens, it sure does have a lot of paperwork about inventory.” She said, holding up a small stack of papers she had found.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Derek hadn’t found anything either so they decided to check more rooms. After they checked the next door, which lead into a poorly stocked cleaning closet, they found Allison and Isaac coming back into the small hallway.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Anything?” Alex asked them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Nope, that one,” She pointed to the door next to them, “looked like an interrogation room. And this one,” This time she pointed to the room they had just come out of, “is a bathroom, if anyone needs to pee.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex groaned, he felt more and more like they were missing something. There couldn’t be nothing, his dad’s people couldn’t have gotten to it yet, could they? He turned and grabbed the handle of one of the last two remaining doors, and shoved. It didn’t budge. It was locked, that was interesting, they hadn’t found a single door locked inside yet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “It’s locked.” He said, jiggling the knob again. “Feels like a deadbolt maybe reinforced, manual not digital.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Move.” Isaac said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I’m not sure you will be able to kick it down.” Alex said as he moved aside, he knew the wolves were strong but this door wasn’t exactly wood and screws.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Isaac turned the handle, trying to see how heavy the door and lock felt, before backing up. His eyes turned yellow quickly, and then he threw his entire body at the door. The door made an unbelievably loud screech and crunch, before it bent to Isaac’s will and the top half caved forward. He shoved again, and this time the door barely stayed on its hinges as Isaac crashed through.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            There were no windows in the room, but it didn’t matter, the whole space was lit by a shimmering light. Alex recognized it straightaway as the same glow that Michael’s ship gave off. Pink, purple, teal, and gold, swirling slightly, made up the glow coming from within.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex pushed passed Isaac and approached the only table in the room. On it were several small pieces that looked like the ones Alex knew Michael collected in New Mexico.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “What is that?” Lydia gasped as she followed him into the room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Alien tech.” Alex said, trying to figure out the best way to gather it all to take back to Michael. “See if you can find me something to carry it in, Michael will want it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “That’s alien?” Allison asked as she looked around the room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, it looks exactly like the stuff we’ve recovered before.” Alex replied, picking up the largest piece, about the size of a notebook, to look at. It felt like glass, just as he thought, and the colors began to swirl slightly faster when he touched it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “But do you know what it is?” Lydia asked again, handing over a canvas sack she had found lying in a corner of the room. “Like, what does it do?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Not sure, I’m sure Michael will figure it out.” Alex said as he began to carefully load the pieces from the table into the standard issue canvas duffle that obviously used to hold cleaning supplies, based on the smell. Unlike many of Michael’s ship pieces, none of these seemed to try and join themselves together, so Alex felt it acceptable to carry them all in one bag.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex took a breath, he realized that finding these alien artifacts meant that they had been right. It meant this place was built to hold aliens, and it was probably connected to Caulfield. He looked around the rest of the room, but it seemed the only purpose for it was to house these artifacts. There were a few cleaning supplies stored in the corner, an empty whiteboard, and a few empty shelves to one side. This probably meant that despite what it looked like, Alex’s father’s men had probably not come to clear the space out yet. If they had, they would certainly have taken the artifacts with them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “So this proves aliens were here at some point doesn’t it?” Lydia asked, startling Alex out of his thoughts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Probably, not sure where else they would have recovered these pieces.” Alex replied.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “So, where did they go?” This time it was Allison asking.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex cleared his throat. He thought about Caulfield and what he had seen there, all the information he had dug up since then, about what had been done to the aliens they imprisoned. His heart ached yet again for Michael, and for the aliens that had probably been here at some point. He feared their fate was similar to some of the aliens at Caulfield.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “They’re probably dead, from experimentation. Or maybe they got moved to a different facility. Terrible either way.” Alex said, anger and frustration in his voice. “Or hell, maybe they were never here at all, and this stuff just got moved here for some reason. I don’t know.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            He was so tired of not knowing. Coming here only left him with more questions. Why were these alien things here, but no traces of actual aliens? Was there anything ever actually done here, so far it seemed this prison had been abandoned before it was even used. But that didn’t make sense either, there was stuff here from, at least, as late as the 90’s, so if it was built in the 50’s like their information says, then it had to have housed something.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex growled in frustration. He turned around and headed back into the hallway, stomping a bit on the way, and ignored everyone’s not-so-subtle concern.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “So, if this place was, at least, connected to aliens, do you think your dad had something to do with it?” Allison asked when they were back in the hallway.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Probably.” Alex muttered as he headed to the final door and grabbed the knob. “He was in charge of all the alien stuff, so he probably at least knew about it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            This last room was his last chance to find anything. They had been in Oak Creek Prison now for a few hours, searching and collecting the few items they could. Unless he got a lot of information from the computers, which he doubted, as they usually had self-deleting programs, they really hadn’t found anything at all. Well, other than the pieces of alien glass, which was great, but not exactly information he could use to take down all of Project Shepard.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Despite the door being unlocked, it was hard to open. He had to push with his shoulder to get it to budge. When the door finally gave, he realized it was because something was blocking it. As the other four crowded behind him in the doorway, Alex looked into the room. It was completely trashed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Papers and binders were strewn everywhere on the floor, which was what was blocking the door initially. Across from where Alex stood, were three filing cabinets, all of which had their drawers opened and files spilling out. Two desks were pushed to the side, each one’s contents either now on the floor or turned over. It looked like many items had been taken, but most had just been thrown on the floor, like someone had been searching for something, and they were in a hurry.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What the hell?” Isaac said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alex slowly moved into the room, he picked up the first paper he saw from the floor. It was yet another piece of meaningless paperwork for the Army. He started to gather the loose pages around him. When he looked up, the other four were still looking into the room with confusion.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Come on.” Alex yelled. “Look through everything, gather anything you think is anything and put it by the door. This could be exactly what we need.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Allison, Derek, Lydia, and Isaac, all forgot their sudden shock, and began to work.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“What is that?” Stiles asked, peering into the dense forest in front of them.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>“What’s what?” Kyle asked, craning his neck around in confusion.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Holy shit.” Michael said in awe.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Before him, maybe a hundred feet away, was a wall. Not made of bricks or wood, but a shimmering, glowing, wall of, what looked like, glass. Michael recognized it immediately, it looked exactly like the glass from his ship, or maybe like what their pods were made of, but he was sure it was alien.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He began to walk towards it again, feeling the pull even more now. He felt Stiles next to him, entranced by the wall of iridescent light as well.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Michael, what’s going on?” Kyle asked from behind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t you see it? Its what we’ve been looking for.” Michael said, looking back at Kyle with a smile. It turned to frown when he saw Kyle’s face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“See what?” Kyle asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The big ass wall.” Stiles responded, his eyes going back and forth between Kyle and the wall.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It looks like the pods.” Michael said, pointing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The pods? Michael, there’s nothing there.” Kyle said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nothing where?” Scott asked, as he and Jackson finally caught up, despite their faces saying they were still very uncomfortable.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You can’t see it?” Michael asked. “We have to go.” He turned back around and started heading for it again, Stiles still at his side, seemingly the only other one who could feel the pull and see the wall.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After only getting a few more steps, Kyle grabbed his arm and swung him around again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Michael stop, let’s figure this out.” He begged him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I can feel it, I can feel them.” Michael said back, his eyes alight and the smile back on his face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He again turned and, this time faster, began to go forward.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wait, Stiles, you can see it too?” Scott asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, man, don’t you see it. It’s all shimmery. We gotta’ go see it.” And just like before he followed Michael forward.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Only a few feet from the shimmer now, Michael was stopped yet again. Kyle had grabbed him around the middle this time, and Jackson, face half turned into a wolf, was doing the same to Stiles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What Kyle? This is what we came for.” Michael said, trying to extricate himself.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It could be dangerous. And only you two can see it? Don’t you see how we should probably think about this before we go off?” Kyle asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Get off me.” Michael yelled. “Don’t you see it, can’t you feel it?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Next to him Stiles was having a similar fight with the two wolves, straining to get out of their grasp and to the wall only feet in front of them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Michael calm down. Let’s think about this.” Kyle was losing control now, he didn’t know what had gotten into Michael, but at this point he didn’t think it could be anything good. Michael and Stiles were straining forward, but Kyle couldn’t see anything, he was confused, and scared.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It could be my people, it could be everything I’ve been searching for. I feel it calling, I feel them Kyle.” Michael said again, pulling even harder against his partner.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Michael.” Kyle said with a grunt, fighting to hold on to him. “Stop. What is happening?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Get off!” This time as Michael yelled, Kyle felt himself fly backward. He, Scott, and Jackson were thrown only a few feet back, but still far enough away that the other two were free.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Both Michael and Stiles turned and walked only a few more feet before, with Kyle watching in disbelief, they disappeared.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“MICHAEL!” Kyle yelled, already back on his feet and staring ahead, hoping it was a trick.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Where did they go?” Scott asked looking around.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“They disappeared.” Kyle replied, now walking toward the spot he had just seen the other two vanish.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What do you mean? STILES!” Scott yelled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Michael!” Kyle yelled again, he was running forward now, hoping it was a trick of the light, or that, even if he couldn’t see it, there was something blocking his view. But when Kyle got to the place Michael had disappeared, he simply kept going. There was no wall, there was no sudden reappearance of his partner, there was nothing. “Michael!” He screamed, spinning around, looking in every direction.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What do we do?” Scott asked. He too was looking around, trying to figure out where his friend had gone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Can you still smell them? Hear them?” Kyle asked, hope in his voice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Scott and Jackson took a moment to listen and inhale. Both had confusion on their faces as they each turned and tried again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nothing.” Jackson said quietly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Stiles!” Scott yelled again, this time more frantically. “Stiles! What do we do? Stiles!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Michael!” Kyle continued yelling as his mind raced to figure out what could have happened and what they could do. “Okay, umm. Can one of you do like a circle and see if you find anything?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah. Good thinking, uhh.” Scott took a deep breath. “Jackson, go run a loop, report back anything that’s even a bit weird. We’ll keep looking around here, meet us back here in half an hour.” Scott was trying his best to go into Alpha mode, but his best friend had just vanished right in front of him, so he wasn’t doing his best at thinking clearly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jackson took off to help look for Michael and Stiles, or even any clues. Kyle and Scott stood together for a minute, looking at the spot where their friends had gone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alex is gonna be so mad.” Kyle whispered, still looking around frantically.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You think that’s bad, Derek is literally going to kill me if he comes back and we haven’t found Stiles.” Scott replied.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Fuck.” Kyle whispered. He didn’t know what to do, obviously something was going on. Michael and Stiles had been acting very strange right before they vanished, but Kyle didn’t know what it could mean. He didn’t know where they could have gone. They came there to get answers and now Kyle was afraid he might have just lost one of his partners, someone he truly loved.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They began to search, Scott in the lead, trying to catch anything from twigs breaking, to the sound of footsteps. Kyle was behind him calling out for Michael and Stiles every few seconds, leaving time for a reply in between.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This has to be supernatural or alien related right? That’s what they were saying before they disappeared, right?” Kyle asked, he was facing Scott, but really only speaking to himself. “There’s no other explanation.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, I think so, but what is it? We’ve never run into anything out here that wasn’t a werewolf. But I don’t think wolves are the cause this time.” Scott replied anyway.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They met back up with Jackson, who had found nothing. Not even a clue or a weird plant, or an animal that shouldn’t have been there. He had run miles, and hadn’t heard, smelled, or seen a single thing out of place.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kyle’s stomach dropped even more. He couldn’t lose Michael, not like this, not into the unknown.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Michael!” He yelled again, tears in his eyes, lump in his throat, hoping this time he would get an answer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>We're really in it now.</p>
<p>Also, sorry about this slightly wonky formatting, ao3 wont let me fix the weird tab issue.</p>
<p>Hope you continue to enjoy! Kudos and Comments are always loved and appreciated!</p>
<p>Love to all!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“Come on.” Alex yelled. “Look through everything, gather anything you think is anything and put it by the door. This could be exactly what we need.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Allison, Derek, Lydia, and Isaac, all forgot their sudden shock, and began to work.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>            They went through all of it. Every page they came to was looked at and put in one of two piles: ‘this probably isn’t anything’ or ‘this could be something’. They were only about half way through the room when Allison gasped.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Did you find something?” Alex asked quickly, coming over to Allison as fast as he could.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah.” She said, before looking back at Alex. She handed over the paper. “You’re dad.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex’s ears started to ring as he looked down at the page Allison had just handed over. It looked like it was taken from a worker’s roster. There, in the corner of the page, was a small military photograph of his father glaring back at him. He stared back at his father for a few seconds before the rest of the information on the page caught his eye.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “This says he helped shut down the facility in 1999.” Alex read off. “That was still ten years before Caulfield was shut down.” Alex mused. This again brought up more questions. Sure Jesse Manes kept Caulfield and Project Shepard alive after that, but it was officially sanctioned for another decade after Oak Creek was supposedly shut down. Why didn’t his father keep this one functioning as well?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “That’s weird. Wouldn’t they have shut all of them down at the same time?” Allison asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “You would think so, unless something went wrong here. But from what we’ve seen, this place might not have even housed actual aliens.” Alex replied, still reading the single personnel sheet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Maybe this was just a storage facility.” Isaac said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “With cells?” Lydia scoffed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Oh, yeah, that doesn’t make sense.” Isaac mused.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I would have been 9 when this place was shut down, and it says he was here for a few months, so this must have been the spring my brothers and I lived with our mom.” Alex said quietly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Why does that matter?” Allison asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Cause, he always told us he went to Serbia that spring. He has a medal from the Kosovo War. Or so I thought. It’s one of his most acclaimed deployments. It means he lied, and that at least part of his service record is fake.” Alex said, confusion in his voice. “This could help me bring him down. Keep looking.” Alex was now even more invested in finding anything he could in this room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            After another hour or so they had gone through everything in the room, they had packed another canvas bag full of papers and other stuff to take with them. Since they had now cleared the prison of anything they thought might be useful, they decided to head back to the rendezvous point and see what the other group had found.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            As they grabbed the bags, dragged them down the stairs and outside, Alex could only think about what this could mean. He thought he might find something that could help him take down his father here, but he never thought he would find alien artifacts, pages of possibly incriminating evidence against his father, and clues about the possibility of more aliens.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            His leg had started to hurt from all the standing on concrete he had done so far that day, so he was happy to be heading back to the car. He hefted his bag to a more comfortable position as they started to make their way from the prison.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Want me to grab that?” Derek asked, slowing a bit to talk to Alex as the other three moved ahead at a faster pace.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I’m good.” Alex snorted. He had been in the military for more than a decade now, even with a little pain, carrying his own bag wasn’t much trouble.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Derek stopped in his tracks, Alex looked over his shoulder at him, thinking he may have inadvertently said something offensive. But when he saw Derek’s face, tilted slightly, his heart began to jump.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Run!” Derek yelled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Ahead of them, Isaac seemed to have felt the same thing as Derek, because he was already yelling at the girls to run. Without thought, Alex began to run as fast as he could, which admittedly wasn’t as fast as he’d like, with only one good leg, and a forty pound sack on his back. Derek grabbed him around the waist and tried to hurry him as much as possible but it wasn’t enough.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Ahead, he could see Isaac, Allison, and Lydia, taking cover on the other side of the car, and even though Alex still didn’t understand exactly what was going on, he knew something was about to happen.</p>
<p>           </p>
<p>            He felt it before he heard it. A wave of energy and heat threw him and Derek forward and to the ground, then a deafening sound of an explosion ripped through the air. For a moment Alex was back in war, was back at the day he lost his leg. He felt heat, his ears were ringing, and he didn’t know which way was up. His leg hurt, but the only thing that kept Alex in the moment was the fact that nothing hurt more than having your leg blown off, and what he felt now, thought painful, was nothing compared to that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex felt a body next to him move, and he tried to lift himself up to help, but a wave of dizziness made him collapse back into the grass and dirt.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Alex!” He heard his name being called, but it felt far away.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Alex?” This time the voice was much closer, and he felt someone shake his shoulder. “Alex?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            He finally felt okay enough to attempt to roll over, the person next to him helping. Alex blinked open his eyes to find himself staring up at Derek. Derek had blood running down the side of his face, and didn’t look to be doing much better than Alex.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “What happened?” Alex coughed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            By this time Isaac, Lydia, and Allison, who Alex realized was the person calling his name earlier, had made their way back to them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Alex? Alex, are you okay?” Allison asked as she slid down to her knees beside him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, I think I’m okay.” Alex said, sitting up, before asking again. “What happened?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Bomb, or something.” Derek said. Alex looked over, and saw that Derek was in worse shape that he thought. It looked like he had broken an arm, and from the way he was holding himself, a rib or two as well.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “A bomb? From where?” Alex asked looking around. All he saw, apart from their group, was dirt debris everywhere.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I think it was from that trap you disabled earlier.” Isaac said while attempted to help Derek stand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “That can’t be right. I took that thing out, the only way it could be reengaged is if someone did it in person.” Alex said. “You guys didn’t hear anyone right?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “No, but this whole thing has been weird, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone set it remotely, without us noticing.” Allison put in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex highly doubted that, because unless he missed something, there was no way that trap could have been reset unless someone was in close proximity.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Either way, let’s get out of here, I’m sure the others will have heard that, we should get to them as quickly as we can.” Lydia said, assisting Isaac in helping Derek.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex looked down at his leg, that he just now realized was hurting a lot more that he first registered, his adrenalin keeping him in the dark until that moment. His prosthetic looked okay from what he could see, but as soon as, with Allison’s assistance, he tried to stand and put any weight on it, his leg hurt so much that he nearly collapsed again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Shit.” Alex muttered, as Allison helped him get his balance, and then he hop walked with her back to the car.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            When they all made it back to the car Alex finally got a better look at Derek and realized the other man must have taken the brunt of the explosion. He was inspecting the blood running down Derek’s face when the other man cleared his throat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “It’ll heal, I’ll be fine by tomorrow.” Derek said. “You on the other hand, don’t look great.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I’m okay, I think.” Alex started, assessing himself to see if he had missed any injuries. “I just fucked up my leg, and I think I hit my head.” Alex was still a bit dizzy but didn’t think it was anything to worry about. He had had plenty of concussions in the past, and this didn’t come close to what those felt like. Either way, Alex knew Kyle and Michael were going to be overbearing for foreseeable future.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex could only think about how the mine (or bomb, or whatever it was) had gone off after he had cleared it earlier. He went over everything he had done and couldn’t understand how it could have happened without another person coming and resetting it. As the car took them back to the other group, all the alien glass and papers they had collected luckily unscathed, Alex still couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kyle’s stomach dropped even more. He couldn’t lose Michael, not like this, not into the unknown. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Michael!” He yelled again, tears in his eyes, lump in his throat, hoping this time he would get an answer.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            They had been searching for hours now. Kyle’s voice was hoarse from how many times he had called for Michael. Scott had long ago stopped turning with optimism at every sound they heard. And though he knew he wouldn’t give up looking, Kyle was losing hope that this manhunt would actually find the two missing men.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Something had happened, and though Kyle didn’t see it himself, he knew it really couldn’t have been completely human. From what Michael had rambled about right before he disappeared, Kyle suspected it did have to do with aliens, or at least something wanting them to think that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Scott, Jackson, and Kyle had just rejoined each other after splitting up to look in different directions again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I think at this point, the other group will be headed back soon.” Kyle said. “We should go meet them, tell them what’s happened, and regroup.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah.” Scott said, sadness and fatigue in his voice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            As they turned to head back toward the car, they heard it. A loud and powerful boom had split the air. All three looked up, eyes wide.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “What was that?” Kyle asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Sounded like a bomb. It came from the prison.” Scott said, even more terror in his eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Shit.” Kyle said before he was picking up his pace, to get back to the car as quickly as they could. Jackson and Scott ran ahead of him, much faster than his human legs could manage. Scott looked behind and started to slow down. “No, go, go, go. I’ll catch up.” Kyle yelled. He knew basically what direction the car was in, and that they hadn’t been too far away when they heard the noise.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            He was out of breath when he finally made it back to the road. He looked both ways, and saw that their car was still parked about a hundred feet away. He ran over and found that neither Scott nor Jackson were there, realizing they must have run, it would have been quicker for them than taking the car.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Just as Kyle hopped in the car and was ready to start speeding toward where he thought the prison was, he saw the other vehicle come into view. Scott and Jackson were running beside it, neither looking particularly upset, so Kyle finally sighed in relief.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            He jumped out of the SUV as the other car came to a stop next to him. He could already hear Scott talking to someone else, but all Kyle wanted was to make sure Alex was okay. He threw open the back door and came face to face with his partner.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Everything okay? What happened?” He asked as he grabbed Alex and hugged him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Trip wire. Not sure exactly what happened.” Alex said quickly. “Derek and I got thrown but we’re okay.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “You got thrown?” Kyle asked, now frantically checking Alex over for any visible injury. “Were you injured?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Calm down Kyle.” Alex said, brushing Kyle off as he tried to take Alex’s pulse. “My leg got hurt, but I’m fine, nothing too bad.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Kyle started to freak out again, before Alex grabbed his face and stared at him, he kissed him gently, and then pulled away.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I’m okay.” Alex said quietly. “I’ll have to use the crutches for a few days, but I’m okay. I promise.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay.” Kyle said, taking a breath. “Is everyone else alright?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Derek’s got some broken ribs I think, and fucked up his arm too.” Alex said, looking at the man in question, who was now outside being looked at by Scott. “He said he would heal quick though, I think he’s okay.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Kyle looked over at the man to see if he could help.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I got him.” Scott said, obviously having overheard their conversation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Kyle looked back at Alex, he scanned him again, but it really did look like Alex was telling the truth, he didn’t seem to be hurt too badly, and Kyle knew he could give Alex a once over later just to be sure.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex suddenly looked around, confusion on his face, trying to get out of the car while Kyle attempted to keep him seated.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Where’s Michael?” Alex asked, looking around to see if he had missed the other man.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Before Kyle could answer, Alex and Kyle were distracted by a loud growl coming from the other group.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “What do you mean he disappeared?” Derek was roaring, spit flying in Scott’s face, as the alpha seemed to cower.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “We don’t know what happened.” Scott was saying. “Jackson and I felt weird and tried to go back, but Michael and Stiles kept running. They both said they saw something and then they just disappeared.” Scott was nearly crying again, trying to explain the day’s earlier events. “We’ve been trying to find them for hours, their scents have completely gone.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex’s eyes went wide as Kyle looked back as him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “He disappeared?” Alex asked, now fully extricating himself from the SUV and limping toward the other group. “What do you mean they disappeared?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Like I said, they said they saw something, a wall I think, and then they both just vanished.” Scott was saying, behind him Derek’s eyes were glowing and he looked as though he was about to run off into the woods to start his own search.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex looked at Kyle, questions in his eyes, asking him to make it make sense.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I think it was alien.” Kyle said. “He was saying something about it looking like the pods, and how he could feel it. But we searched for hours and didn’t find anything. We were headed back here to regroup and come up with a plan when we heard the explosion.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I have a plan.” Derek said, voice barely more than a snarl. “We go find them before I kill something. We keep looking until we find them, we aren’t giving up.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Kyle wanted to object, to say that they had done that, there was nothing there, but before he could, Scott growled back at Derek.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Of course we won’t give up!” Scott yelled, his eyes starting to glow as well. “But we already searched the woods on foot, we tried to find a scent, we searched. We need to come up with a better plan than just doing that again.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “We do a grid search.” Alex butted in. The others all turned to stare as him. “We spread out and go in straight lines, one way and then the other.” He pointed with his hands as he said this. “That way we know if we missed anything. If that doesn’t work, then we come up with something else. But a grid search will be the most thorough.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Fine.” Derek glared, still looking like he was ready to run out and do the whole search by himself.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “And if what you guys said is true, and it does have to do with aliens,” Alex began, looking back at Kyle, “then we figure out something else.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            The other group nodded, and after retrieving his crutches from his car, and a glare at Kyle for trying to get him to stay behind, Alex began to space them out for the grid search.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Okay, tell me exactly what happened. Anything you remember.” Alex said to Kyle as they walked to their positions. So Kyle quickly recapped everything that happened, from Michael saying he felt a pull, to the werewolves feeling as though they should turn back, all the way until Michael and Stiles had vanished.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Where are you?” Alex whispered as he took in everything Kyle had told him. Then, all eight of them started to search again, hoping this time they would find a clue to their missing friends.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Don't worry, Michael and Stiles will be back in the story soon!</p>
<p>Love and appreciate all the comments and kudos!!!</p>
<p>Thanks for reading and Love to all!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br/>
             Michael thought he would hit the wall, or at least feel it, but instead he just kept going. However, when he looked up, everything had changed. Where before he had seen a shimmering wall, and beyond that more forest, now he looked up and saw a clearing.</p><p> </p><p>            It’s as if the trees had opened, the sun shinning down onto the large clearing, so unlike the darkness that had come with the dense woods they had been in before. But what truly surprised Michael was what he saw in the clearing.</p><p> </p><p>            Cabins, gardens, a small pond, shrubs, and other small structures were placed throughout, like something out of a fairytale. The cabins were rudimentary, made of wood that looked like it came from the trees around them. The gardens, while small, looked like they held not only flowers, but vegetables, fruits, and herbs as well. When he looked closer Michael also saw a few things around that looked like his spaceship back in Roswell, made of that same iridescent glass he only knew as alien.</p><p> </p><p>            He felt different too, the pull he had experienced in the forest, that had been leading him forward, was now completely gone. He sensed he had reached what he had been looking for. Michael felt someone bump into him from behind and glanced back only to see Stiles. And behind Stiles, he no longer saw the wall that had been so apparent, but instead dense forest. He didn’t see anyone else from their group. No Kyle, Jackson, or Scott.</p><p> </p><p>            “Who are you?” Asked a small voice.</p><p> </p><p>            Michael and Stiles both jumped, not having noticed anyone around them. From only a few yards away, as small child, around 6 or 7 Michael thought, came out from behind a bush. Before either Michael or Stiles could say anything, they heard more rustling coming from where the child had just materialized.</p><p> </p><p>            “Who are you talking to?” Another, deeper, voice asked the child, before they too became visible to Michael. The man, who had just appeared, looked up from the child only to jump himself, at the site of the two strangers before him.</p><p> </p><p>            He quickly put himself between the child and the invaders, looking almost scared as he quickly glanced around.</p><p> </p><p>            “How did you get here?” The man asked them, still looking weary. He had a deep, precise, almost musical voice.</p><p> </p><p>            “Uh,” Michael said, still trying to wrap his head around what he was seeing, “we came from the forest.” He pointed back over his shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>            “Who are you?” The man asked, stepping back slightly.</p><p> </p><p>            “I’m Michael.” He said, stepping forward, feeling that slight pull again. “Who are you?”</p><p>           </p><p>            “Go run, get Kathra, tell her there are people at the wall.” The man said quickly to the child, who ran away hastily towards one of the cabins, before he turned back to the other two. “I am Jovin. I am not sure why you are here, but you need to go.”</p><p> </p><p>            “What?” Michael asked. “No, no, I don’t think you understand.”</p><p> </p><p>            “I understand. I think you are lost.” The man, Jovin, said. “You do not understand, you must go, you are in the wrong place.”</p><p> </p><p>            “We’re not lost.” Michael said, getting frustrated. “We were looking for something in forest, and we saw that wall, and I think you might be what I’ve been searching for.” Michael again stepped forward as he tried to plead and explain what he was doing there.</p><p> </p><p>            “You saw the wall?” Jovin asked him confused, stepping back from Michael for every step Michael took forward.</p><p> </p><p>            “Yes, yes, the wall, the big shimmering wall.” Michael yelled, excited. “We were investigating the prison and woods, and we saw the wall, and I felt this pull, you know.” Michael didn’t think he was making much sense, he was still overwhelmed by what he was seeing. The feeling of finally finding what he had been chasing.</p><p> </p><p>            “The prison? You have gone to the prison?” Jovin said, looking at Michael with curiosity more than fear now.</p><p> </p><p>            “No, I haven’t been to the prison,” Michael said with a groan. “Listen, I was looking for you, I think I am you.”</p><p> </p><p>            Jovin looked even more confused now, and to be fair, Michael knew he wasn’t being as coherent as he wanted. He was just so excited, and nervous, and even a little unsettled all at once, and he didn’t know exactly what to say to this person who seemed to have materialize right in front of his eyes only minutes ago.</p><p> </p><p>            “Jovin?” Michael, Stiles, and Jovin all looked up at the sound of yet another voice. A woman, with white hair down to her hips, taller than Michael, who looked like she could either be in her 40’s or 70’s, came walking up to the small group. She peered at the newcomers, questions in her eyes, but turned to Jovin first.</p><p> </p><p>            “These people said they saw the wall, said they were searching the prison and the forest and found us. I told them to go, but they would not.” Jovin said, anxiety laced his voice as he tried to tell the woman everything he knew. The woman nodded and turned back to Michael and Stiles.</p><p> </p><p>            “You saw the wall?” She asked.</p><p> </p><p>            “Yeah.” It was all Michael could say as he stared at the woman.</p><p> </p><p>            “And who are you?” She asked them.</p><p> </p><p>            “Michael.” Michael said, frustrated at the conversation starting again, but still mesmerized by the woman enough not to care.</p><p> </p><p>            “I’m Stiles.” Stiles said, still behind Michael, waving his hand.</p><p> </p><p>            “Well, Michael and Stiles, I’m Kathra.” She said in her soothing voice. “I’m not sure what you were searching for but I do not think it was us.”</p><p> </p><p>            “No, I think it was.” Michael said, more sure of himself now. “I felt a pull toward this part of the forest, and I saw the wall and it looked so familiar, I knew it had to be it.”</p><p> </p><p>            “Familiar?” Kathra asked.</p><p> </p><p>            Stiles, annoyed by the anxiety and confusion in the air sighed, before doing what he did best, blurting out something and hoping for the best.</p><p> </p><p>            “Aliens.” Stiles said. “We were looking for aliens. Are you the aliens?”</p><p> </p><p>            Michael glared at him, but quickly looked back at Kathra to see her reaction to Stiles’ outburst. She looked shocked, as did Jovin, still standing by her, and her eyes widened as she stared again at Michael.</p><p> </p><p>            “I think you two better follow me.” This time she gave them a slight smile before turning and leading them further into the clearing.</p><p> </p><p>            The tall woman guided them to one of the small cabins. As they walked the short distance, Michael noticed quite a few heads peering at them through windows, or from behind garden plants. There was even a man gawking at them out in the open, from next to the pond. Michael knows none of these people were out when they first arrived and looked around, but it seemed that news of the strangers had already spread.</p><p> </p><p>            Michael’s heart was beating faster and faster as he followed Kathra, he was almost certain now that he had found more aliens, more people like him, and he could feel his pulse throughout his body as his anxiety and excitement grew.</p><p> </p><p>            “You are, aren’t you?” Michael said, right as they reached the cabin they had been headed for. By the door stood a device, about the size of a toaster, which was made of the same material as Michael’s ship, and now that he got a better look at it, he was even more convinced. “I’ve seen this stuff before.”</p><p> </p><p>            “You have?” Jovin asked incredulously. “Where?”</p><p> </p><p>            Michael glared back at the man as he followed Kathra and Stiles inside. He glanced around at what must have been a community meeting place. There were a few long tables with benches, some chairs spread around, three large bookshelves holding many books and other things, and even a few toys lying in one corner. Almost everything was made from the same wood as the outside had been, and Michael realized that these people had most likely built all of this.</p><p> </p><p>            “I’m from Roswell, I found a bunch of that glass.” Michael said. Jovin looked surprised at this, but just continued to eye the newcomers with skepticism.</p><p> </p><p>            “Please sit.” Kathra said, waving toward one of the tables. Stiles and Michael sat on the bench across from the other two, and for a few moments, all four just continued to look at each other in silence. “I think we need to clarify a few things.”</p><p> </p><p>            “Um, yeah.” Michael sighed.</p><p> </p><p>            “It seems you know a lot about us. Please explain.” Kathra said calmly.</p><p> </p><p>            “Okay, um, like I said, I’m from Roswell. We came here looking into that prison up the road, trying to figure out if it had anything to do with this other prison where I’m from. We wanted to know if it used to house aliens. We were searching in the woods, and I felt this pull, and then I saw that wall and knew it had to have been the people we were looking for.” Michael said this all a bit quickly, but the others seemed to follow.</p><p> </p><p>            “And how is it you came to know about aliens?” She asked.</p><p> </p><p>            “I am one.” Michael said, barely getting it passed his lips, his years of hiding making it hard to say out loud. “I came from the ’47 crash, and I think from the same place as you.”</p><p> </p><p>            To his surprise, Kathra smiled. She took his hands from the table and held them in hers, staring into his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>            “Oh, in that case, it’s very nice to meet you.” She said. She put Michael’s hands down and turned to Stiles. “And you too?”</p><p> </p><p>            “Oh, no.” Stiles said, raising his hands in front of himself. “I’m not an alien, at least I don’t think so, but then again, I didn’t even know about aliens ‘til like 2 days ago so who knows. And I mean do any of us really know where we come from?”</p><p> </p><p>            “No, he’s not an alien.” Michael cut off Stiles’ rant. “He’s just a friend who was in the woods with me when we found you.”</p><p> </p><p>            “Odd.” Kathra said. She then leaned to say something quietly to Jovin, who got up and left. “Only others of our kind should be able to find us. Would you mind if I verified your story?”</p><p> </p><p>            “Verified?” Michaels asked. “Sure, I’m not sure how you can.”</p><p> </p><p>            “I will look into your mind.” Kathra said, reaching for Michael’s hands again.</p><p> </p><p>            The instant she touched him, Michael felt different. It felt as if something foreign had invaded his body, a weird heat traveled from his hand to his head, but before he could even pull away, Kathra was already dropping his hands once again.</p><p> </p><p>            “You really are one of us.” She said, like she still hadn’t quite believed him. “What family do you come from?”</p><p> </p><p>            “I’m not sure?” Michael said puzzled. “My mom’s name was Nora, but me and my brother and sister didn’t grow up with any other aliens, we only knew cause of our powers.”</p><p> </p><p>            “Oh, well, I’m Kathra of the Thrais family.” She said this as if it was supposed to mean something to Michael.</p><p> </p><p>            Michael didn’t really want to talk about names or how he got there anymore, he really just wanted to ask questions, wanted to know who these people were, how they got there, and if they could tell him anything about where they had come from. His heart was beginning to sink, even though he felt a pull to come there, these people didn’t seem to feel a connection to him. Michael thought that this may have been a mistake, and he really wished Alex and Kyle were there with him, to figure it all out. He wished Isobel could be there too, she was always better at connecting with people, and Michael desperately wanted to connect.</p><p> </p><p>            “Like I said, I didn’t grow up with anyone else from our planet, so would you mind if I asked you a few questions?” Michael asked. At this Stiles perked up next to him, after their talk of families seemed to bore him.</p><p> </p><p>            “Oh, of course.” Kathra said. “Just give me a moment.” She proceeded to leave Stiles and Michael alone again, as she left the cabin.</p><p> </p><p>            Michael and Stiles looked around the room for a few moments in silence, hoping their host would come back soon to answer their questions.</p><p> </p><p>            “This is kinda’ weird right?” Stiles asked.</p><p> </p><p>            “Yeah.” Michael said absently, still thinking about what had happened so far. He didn’t know why, but after their short time there, he felt as if he should have experienced more of a connection with these people. He had been so excited, but to not see that reflected in the faces of the few he had met so far made him grow more anxious.</p><p> </p><p>            These were the first people, outside of his own family, that he had met that could give him answers about his past and origins, but it was if they didn’t care about him at all. They were polite, sure, but he wanted excitement, Michael was overjoyed, so why weren’t they?</p><p> </p><p>            “What’s wrong dude?” Stiles asked, looking at him closer. “It’s weird, but its also really cool.”</p><p> </p><p>            Before Michael could voice any of his weird feelings, Kathra reentered the cabin, this time accompanied by another man.</p><p> </p><p>            “This is Wari, he can answer your questions, he knows the most about our history and our circumstances here on Earth. Wari, this is Michael, and his friend Stiles. If you will excuse me, I must go attend to some other matters.” She introduced the other man before leaving.</p><p> </p><p>            The new man was somehow even taller than Kathra, and he inclined his head before sitting across from them. He had startling green eyes, short dark hair, and didn’t look much older than Michael himself.</p><p> </p><p>            “Hello.” Wari said, a bright smile on his face, as he looked at Michael. “It’s very nice to meet you. When Jovin said strangers were here, I didn’t know what to think, but Kathra said you are like us?”</p><p> </p><p>            “Yeah, I think so. I was in the ’47 crash in Roswell.” Michael said, a small smile forming on his face as well.</p><p> </p><p>            “I believe that is where we are all from, but you must have been lucky, all of us here were captured on that day.” Wari said.</p><p> </p><p>            “That’s what I wanted to talk about.” Michael said. “Sorry, my friend Alex is better at asking the right questions. I just want to know anything I can about where we’re from.”</p><p> </p><p>            “That’s okay, I’ll answer anything I can.” Wari replied. “Would you like some water while we talk?”</p><p> </p><p>            “Sure.” Stiles and Michael both said. Wari went to the other side of the room, to a small sink in the corner, and filled three glasses.</p><p> </p><p>            It was at that moment that Michael realized he should call Alex and the rest of the group to come. He couldn’t believe neither he nor Stiles had thought about doing it yet. Michael fished in his phone from his pocket and brought it out.</p><p> </p><p>            “Sorry, but I just realized that it would be better if my friends were here, so you only had to answer all these questions once, plus I’m sure they’ll want to know some stuff too.” Michael said, as Wari handed him the water, and sat down across the table from them again.</p><p> </p><p>            “Oh I don’t think that will work here.” Wari said, pointing to Michael’s phone. Michael looked up from the text he was attempting to send, confusion on his face.</p><p> </p><p>            “Oh, bad service? Do you have a landline I could use?” He started to get up.</p><p> </p><p>            “I’m afraid not, we don’t really use phones, there are so few of us.” The alien replied.</p><p> </p><p>            “Oh.” Michael sat back down. “Well, um. Should I go get them and come back? I just think Alex will want to meet you and ask questions too. He will be so excited to know I found you. Plus we left a few people behind when we came here, they’ll probably be looking for us.”</p><p> </p><p>            “Yeah, I should probably tell Derek where we are.” Stiles agreed.</p><p> </p><p>            Wari looked a bit uncomfortable, but kept the smile on his face. He nodded at their concerns.</p><p> </p><p>            “Of course, or course.” He said quickly. “Wouldn’t want them to worry. How about I’ll answer some of your questions now, and when Kathra comes back, she will take you to go get your friends.”</p><p> </p><p>            “Um, okay.” Michael said. It all felt a bit funny, but he couldn’t think of any reason that he couldn’t wait just a bit longer to contact the others, while they waited for Kathra to return. He took a few sips of water, trying to get his thoughts in order, before he asked his first question. “I guess my biggest question is how did you guys get here? Like in the middle of the woods?”</p><p> </p><p>            “Well, that’s quite a long story. Are you sure you wouldn’t like to know more about our home planet before I get into all that?” Wari asked.</p><p> </p><p>            “Um, okay?” Michael said. “What about our planet do you know? I don’t have any memories from before.”</p><p> </p><p>            As he said this Michael heard a noise coming from his left. He looked over at Stiles, who seemed to have fallen from his seat. Michael reached down to help when he realized he had started to feel dizzy, his eyes blurred, and his hands had begun to shake slightly.</p><p> </p><p>            “What?” Michael asked, looking back at Wari. The other man looked sad as he said something that Michael couldn’t quite catch. “No, what’s happening?” Michael was now slurring his words, and his head seemed to be slowly pulling him down underwater.</p><p> </p><p>            The last thing Michael saw was Kathra coming back inside and standing over him. Michael wondered when he had fallen to the floor. He tried to use his powers to throw the woman back, but he didn't feel them respond. Then, the darkness swallowed him whole.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>No one seems to be having a good day at this point.</p><p>It has been A Week™, for me, so apologies for this chapter taking a bit longer to publish.</p><p>Kudos and Comments are always appreciated.</p><p>Love to all!❤️</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>            Michael woke with a start. He blinked in the bright light before lifting his head to look around and see what happened.</p><p> </p><p>            “Hey.” Stiles said. Michael looked over to the other man and sighed. They seemed to be in a small room, made from wood, like everything Michael had seen so far. There was nothing in the room other than the two men, a bright light bulb, and a drain in the floor. Michael grunted as he sat up.</p><p> </p><p>            “What happened?” He asked, as he managed to scoot himself to the opposite wall from where Stiles was currently leaning. Even on opposite sides of the room, Michael could have reached out and touched Stiles.</p><p> </p><p>            “Oh, man. I thought you would know. We were talking to that Wari guy and then I felt weird, then BAMB I woke up here a few minutes ago.” Stiles answered, a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>            “Fuck.” Michael groaned, rubbing his temples. “That’s basically what I remember. I saw you fall over and then felt weird, got dizzy.” He ran his hands through his hair trying to figure out what he had done wrong that made these people drug them. Michael looked up at the door, inspecting it, then he tried the knob.</p><p> </p><p>            “Its locked man, I already tried.” Stiles said with a sigh.</p><p> </p><p>            “Give me a sec. Let me see if I can get it to open with my powers.” Michael replied. He took a few deep breaths before concentrating on the door and attempting to use his telekinesis.</p><p> </p><p>            Just like when he had tried to use them against Kathra, his powers didn’t respond. No matter how hard he concentrated or tried, nothing happened.</p><p> </p><p>            “They aren’t working.” Michael said, breathing hard. “I’m not sure what’s wrong.”</p><p> </p><p>            “Great.” Stiles said sarcastically. “What do they even want with us? They know you’re an alien, right? So, what’s all this about?”</p><p> </p><p>            “Fuck if I know.” Michael sighed. “Not sure what I did wrong, maybe they just don’t trust us.”</p><p> </p><p>            Michael and Stiles sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to figure out what they could do, or what the aliens wanted. After awhile they heard footsteps coming from the other side of the door. They both sat up quickly and moved to the corner of the room farthest from the door.</p><p> </p><p>            They heard a few complicated clicking sounds before the door to their small room was opened. Michael glared at the person who came into view.</p><p> </p><p>            “Hello again.” Kathra said, giving them a small smile. “Sorry for the inconvenience but we needed to know if you were telling the truth.”</p><p> </p><p>            “So you drugged us and put us in a prison cell?” Stiles yelled.</p><p> </p><p>            “This is not a prison cell, young man. It is a closet, and we did not drug you, Wari simply used his mind to make you fall asleep.” Kathra replied.</p><p> </p><p>            “Oh, well. That’s so much better.” Stiles replied, sarcasm dripping from every word.</p><p> </p><p>            “I thought you already checked?” Michael said curiously. “You said you believed me.”</p><p> </p><p>            “Yes, well, your mind was protected more than I expected. And when you mentioned your friends out there.” At this she pointed behind her. “We needed to know what your intentions were.”</p><p> </p><p>            “Oh, yeah? And what did you figure out?” Michael asked her angrily.</p><p> </p><p>            “That you are indeed one of us, and that you do not have any ill will towards, us.” She answered Michael. She then turned to Stiles. “But your friends are a bit different are not they? You’re the creatures that haunt the forest, yes? The ones that, until now, left us alone?”</p><p> </p><p>            “Uh, yeah, I guess. But I swear we aren’t here to do anything. We were just helping out. Trying to figure out what’s going on.” Stiles replied.</p><p> </p><p>            “Hmm.” Kathra made a noise. “Follow me please.”</p><p> </p><p>            Michael and Stiles shot each other a look before getting up and following Kathra out of the small room. It was then they realized they were still in the same building they had been in when they passed out. They reentered the main room of the building with Kathra, only to see Wari, Jovin, and another woman waiting for them at the same table they had sat at before.</p><p> </p><p>            Wari looked at them with sad eyes, before looking down in regret. Jovin, like before, stared at them cautiously.</p><p> </p><p>            “We would like to formally apologize to you for the inconvenience. We need to protect our people. You must see that?” Kathra said. “We are so very happy to have you here Michael, and would like to actually answer your questions now that we have made sure everything is alright.” At this the other aliens began to nod in agreement.</p><p> </p><p>            “Um, I’m not sure that’s the best idea.” Stiles said before Michael could begin to answer. “I think we better go back out to our friends, I’m sure they’re worried about us.” He said this, trying to coax Michael towards the door and away from the people who had just, no matter how humanely, imprisoned them.</p><p> </p><p>            Michael looked at Stiles with a questioning glare. Despite what they had done, he still wanted his answers. Honestly, Michael could understand why they had done what they did to them, he may have even done the same. He understood the need to protect your family, your people above all else. And even after all of that, the other aliens seemed to still want to answer his questions and Michael wasn’t sure he could give up that opportunity even if he was wary of situation.</p><p> </p><p>            He could see Stiles’ point as well. Michael didn’t know how long they had been unconscious, so he didn’t know how long the others might have been looking for them. He still wanted Alex and Kyle to be there, to get their questions answered too. He didn’t want his partners worried anymore that they likely already were.</p><p> </p><p>            “I would really like to hear about you.” Michael began, trying to figure out exactly what he wanted to say. “But, I think it would be better if the others joined us.”</p><p> </p><p>            “I’m not sure that is a very good idea.” Jovin said, before Kathra could say anything. “We do not need any intruders.” He said the last part with a glare.</p><p> </p><p>            “I am sure we will figure something out.” Kathra said.</p><p> </p><p>            Before either of them, or Michael could continue speaking a loud boom ripped through the air around them. Michael knew it had to have come from near by, and attempted to run out and see its source.</p><p> </p><p>            “Stay here.” Kathra said, looking alarmed, before she grabbed Jovin and the two ran out.</p><p> </p><p>            Stiles began to go toward the door to follow, but was stopped about half way there by the hand of Wari.</p><p> </p><p>            “Stay inside. We are safe in here, they will figure out what happened.” He said, looking rattled but somewhat calm. He seemed to follow anything Kathra said unquestioningly.</p><p> </p><p>            Neither Michael nor Stiles wanted to make their already shaky situation worse, so they both sat down and waited for the Kathra to return. Michael was worried, he knew something was wrong, he knew Alex and Kyle were probably worried, and now something else was happening. He had a bad feeling about all of it and tried to calm himself down while they waited. He began to clench and unclench his left hand worryingly.</p><p> </p><p>            After waiting almost a half hour in complete silence, Michael couldn’t take it anymore and got up from the table again.</p><p> </p><p>            “Nope, sorry. I need to go see what’s happening.” Michael said as he headed toward the door yet again.</p><p> </p><p>            Before any of the aliens could stop him, and before he could even get to the door, Kathra banged back inside. She stopped suddenly, before she could run Michael over, and gave him a curious look.</p><p> </p><p>            “What’s going on?” Michael asked before anyone else could talk.</p><p> </p><p>            “We are not quite sure. I’ve sent someone out to investigate.” Kathra replied.</p><p> </p><p>            “You’ve sent someone out?” Michael asked, incredulous. “Get out of my way, I’m going to find my friends.” Michael then, tried to sidestep Kathra and get out of the building.</p><p> </p><p>            “Uh, yeah. I think we should go find them before we do anything else.” Stiles agreed, standing up and following Michael.</p><p> </p><p>            Michael and Stiles barely made it out the door, when Kathra and Jovin came out behind them, calling their names.</p><p> </p><p>            “I do not think that is the best idea.” Kathra said after them, making them pause.</p><p> </p><p>            “Again? Why not?” Michael asked, annoyed even more now. “You keep saying that, but what’s the problem of going to get them and coming back here, they don’t mean you any harm.”</p><p> </p><p>            “Your friends cannot come here, the wall will stop them.” She said.</p><p> </p><p>            “Well, take down the wall for a bit.” Michael said, almost growling with anger at this point.</p><p> </p><p>            “Absolutely not.” Jovin interrupted.</p><p> </p><p>            “I am afraid that is not possible. It is there to protect us.” Kathra said, laying a hand on Jovin’s shoulder to calm him down.</p><p> </p><p>            “And I am telling you, they will not hurt you.” Michael said, grinding his teeth. “Please, after everything you’ve already done, please just let them in so we can get our answers and leave.”</p><p> </p><p>            “I am very sorry. But that is simply not possible. We are glad to welcome the two of you, and answer your questions. You are welcome to stay here as well. But, if the others cannot see us, they are not allowed inside.” Kathra said slowly, as if explaining something to a small child.</p><p> </p><p>            “We do not welcome outsiders.” Jovin added.</p><p> </p><p>            “Aren’t we outsiders?” Stiles asked.</p><p> </p><p>            “You could see the wall, which means you are one of us.” Jovin continued.</p><p> </p><p>            Michael rolled his eyes, unbelievably frustrated. He still wanted answers, he still wished to know anything he could about where he and his siblings had come from. However, he was now just frustrated and angry with these people. More than answers, now he just wanted to leave and find his partners.</p><p> </p><p>            Michael started to march away from the other aliens, determined to go find everyone they had left behind when he and Stiles disappeared into the forest. He heard quick footsteps behind him, and glanced back to see Stiles following him, frustration in his eyes as well.</p><p> </p><p>            “If you leave you can not come back.” Kathra called after them, voice still calm, but with a knowing eye.</p><p> </p><p>            Michael stopped, turned and glared back at the woman.</p><p> </p><p>            “What?” He cried.</p><p> </p><p>            “If you leave, I am afraid you will not be let back in, and you will not be able to find our community again.” Kathra said, slowly following the other two in their journey toward where they had entered the wall.</p><p> </p><p>            Michael hesitated. He knew the smart thing to do was to go back, find the others, and regroup. He knew they might be able to find a different way. But at the back of his mind, the thought of never finding answers nagged at his soul.</p><p> </p><p>            “Are you kidding me?” Stiles asked from beside Michael, ire in his tone.</p><p> </p><p>            “We have discussed it, and though we welcome the two of you, we will not let your friends inside, nor will we allow you to return if you decide to leave.” Jovin reiterated. “We have read your intentions, and know you mean us no harm, but we are not willing to extend that to your friends.”</p><p> </p><p>            “You must understand,” Kathra continued. “we must think about our safety, there are so few of us left, we must preserve our communities to the best of our abilities.”</p><p> </p><p>            Again Michael hesitated. He actually understood where the other aliens were coming from. He was sure he would be just as cautious if other aliens came to Roswell. At the same time, he didn’t know what he could do to change their minds. He wasn’t sure he wanted to. But, again, he desperately wanted both his partners and his answers.</p><p> </p><p>            “Okay.” Michael agreed. “I understand. If you can’t let our friends in, I get it. Will you at least let me send a message to our friends, so they won’t worry?”</p><p> </p><p>            Kathra nodded, reaching out to lead Michael, and a skeptical but compliant Stiles, back toward the cabin.</p><p> </p><p>            Just as they were about to reenter the building Michael heard a scream, a scream he recognized. His head whipped around and he started running back towards the wall. The only thought in his mind: what could have possibly happened that made Alex scream like that?</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for continuing to read!</p><p>Also, sorry all my chapters seem to end with them either falling asleep or with a cliffhanger. lol.</p><p>Also, no you aren't going crazy, I changed the alien's name from Katra to Kathra, and it has been edited in previous chapters.</p><p>Love to all.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Kyle was exhausted. He had already searched for hours earlier, and now they were just searching the same places again. He wanted to scream, the sun would start going down in the next few hours and Kyle just wanted Michael back in his arms.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            The group had just finished their quick grid search to no avail, and was regrouping yet again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “What now?” Kyle asked as they all huddled together.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Can you guys take me to the exact place you saw them disappear?” Alex asked Kyle, Scott, and Jackson.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            It had been a while since any of them heard Derek speak, his eyes were a constant blue now, and he seemed to be in between crying and growling at all times.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Uhh yeah.” Scott said, he waved his hand and the rest of the group followed him yet again into the woods. They traipsed back into the forest, all of them now dejected.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Alex was about to hit his limit. His leg was burning now, had been steadily getting worse and worse as he slowly made his way through leaf litter. His crutches snagged on every root, he was tired, worried, and his ears were still ringing from the explosion. He also knew that if they didn’t find Michael and Stiles soon their chances of finding them in the condition they had disappeared in would only get worse. At this point he could tell everyone in their group was on the verge of tears, either from frustration, exhaustion, or plain worry.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Just as Alex’s left crutch snagged on yet another root, and his leg throbbed, Kyle came up next to him, putting his hand on Alex’s elbow. Alex wanted to shake him off, but his need for touch, especially by Kyle was just too much. He wanted to step into Kyle’s space, break down, and then sleep, but he knew his only option at the moment was to keep going forward.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “We’ll find him.” Kyle said, no conviction in his voice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah.” Alex replied, leaning slightly into his partner, if only for one tiny bit of comfort.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “It’s near here.” Scott said. “This is where we can start to sense the weird feeling.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, and they ran ahead of us.” Jackson added, pointing ahead. “But it didn’t take too long to catch up.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Yeah, I think it was just past that big tree.” Kyle said, pointing at the large Black Oak tree a few hundred feet in front of them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            They all picked up their pace again, their last bit of hope still pushing them forward. When they came around the large tree, they looked around.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Can anyone see anything?” Alex asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “No, but they disappeared right around there.” Kyle said, gesturing between two smaller trees. “But I followed them and didn’t go anywhere.” No one else said they could see anything either, so Alex slowly made his way to where the others indicated.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Hmm.” Alex grunted, searching for anything on or around the trees that seemed even a little bit off. As he slowly paced around the trees he concluded that if there was anything to see he couldn’t find it. “Yeah, I don’t see anything.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I told you, we looked earlier. There’s nothing.” Jackson said, offended. Alex turned and gave him an unimpressed look.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Maybe we should all go back to the prison.” Scott began, tone even more anxious now. “I mean, I don’t know what else to do. What happened to Stiles, his dad is gonna be so mad…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Shhh.” Derek gestured for Scott to shut up as he tilted his head to the side slightly. He stayed like that for a few seconds, the other wolves copying him. “Do you hear that?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Hear what?” Kyle asked quietly, looking around, confused.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Shhh.” Derek said again, before turning to look behind where Alex stood. “I thought I heard footsteps over there.” He pointed behind Alex.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I didn’t hear anything.” Said Scott. Jackson and Isaac shook their heads as well.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Derek held up his hand and slowly made his way over to where he thought he had heard the noise, only a few feet behind where Alex had been standing. Derek rustled a near by bush, cleared away some detritus on the ground with his shoe, and even looked up into the nearest tree.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Then Derek screamed. From what Kyle could see a blur was now on top of Derek, having taken him to the ground. When Kyle looked closer he saw long gashes opening up on Derek’s face and chest, the only thing indicating what had caused it, the slight blur that seemed to be on top of him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Before any of them moved, Derek began to fight it off, only causing him to scream more, and for more lacerations to open up and blood to start pouring out at an even more alarming pace.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Hey.” Alex yelled, pointing his gun at the blur but not firing, he couldn’t see the assailant and didn’t want to risk shooting Derek on accident. Then dropping both his crutches and the gun to the ground, he took the few steps toward the fight and rammed what ever was hurting Derek to the earth.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            The others all started to run to help, still not sure what was actually happening. As, Kyle slid down next to Derek to see if he could help, he saw the same kinds of wounds begin to open on Alex’s skin.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Alex!” Kyle yelled, as Alex too began to scream.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            As Alex screamed, he continued to grapple with the assailant that all of them could only catch small glances of. Kyle began to crawl toward his partner, the others still worrying over Derek or trying to figure out the best way to fight off something they couldn’t see.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            But then, just as Michael and Stiles had done earlier, Kyle watched as Alex and the unknown blur vanished into nothing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “No, no, NO!” Kyle yelled, crawling to where his partner had just disappeared. Kyle couldn’t believe this was happening again, he couldn’t let this happen again. “Alex!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Shit.” Allison said from behind where Kyle was sat in the dirt. The others were still looking around to figure out where Alex could have gone, or to see if they could find the mysterious attacker.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Um, guys.” Scott said, worry in his voice. “Derek isn’t healing.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            At that the others all swarmed around Derek once more. Derek continued to groan in pain as the other’s tried to figure out what was happening and how they could fix it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Move back.” Kyle ordered. He was unbelievably scared for both his partners, and desperately knew he needed to find and help them as quickly as possible. He also knew that not only could he not do that without the rest of the group’s help, but also that he was a doctor above almost everything else. It was his duty to help who he could, and right now that was the man bleeding out on the ground in front of him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Kyle ripped open Derek’s jacket and shirt to try and get a better look at the wounds that had been inflicted by the blur. He instructed Scott to keep pressure on the wounds on Derek’s face as best he could. Kyle balled up Derek’s, now ruined shirt, and pressed it against the gash on his chest, to try and stop the alarming flow of blood.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Why isn’t he healing?” Kyle asked the others.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I don’t know.” Answered Scott, he, and the rest of the group, looked confused and scared. “This usually only happens when Wolfsbane is involved, but I don’t think that’s what this is.”</p>
<p>            “Okay.” Kyle thought for a moment. “Do you guys have anything to treat this with? Do you have a first aid kit or anything?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “We’re werewolves, we don’t usually need that kind of thing.” Jackson scoffed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Kyle wanted to point out that nearly half their group was human, but thought better of it. He looked around again trying to find anything that could help them. Derek’s shirt was now soaked through with blood and the man himself was starting to lose consciousness. Kyle took off his own jacket and pressed that to the chest wound as well.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Scott looked around too, before realization hit him. He leaned over Derek, grabbed his arm and snapped it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “What the fuck?” Kyle shouted. He grabbed the man’s arm to assess the damage, but found that it seemed okay. “What did you do?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “He’s done that before.” Scott explained. “If one of us isn’t healing for some reason, sometimes you have to jump start it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “What?” Kyle asked. That made absolutely no sense.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Look.” Scott said, taking his hand from Derek’s face. “I think it’s working, it seems to be healing some.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Kyle pulled his jacket and the soaked shirt from Derek’s chest. The laceration was still there, but the blood flow had already begun to slow and it seemed that the opening was getting smaller. He watched in amazement as the skin began to knit itself together slowly. He sat back in the dirt and heaved a breath.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Now all he had to worry about was trying to find and help his two missing partners. He didn’t know if Michael was hurt, or even still alive, and he knew if Alex was as bad as Derek, he would need to get help soon, or Kyle would lose him forever.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Just as they were about to reenter the building Michael heard a scream, a scream he recognized. His head whipped around and he started running back towards the wall. The only thought in his mind: what could have possibly happened that made Alex scream like that?</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michael didn’t think he had ever run faster in his life. He knew that scream, knew it meant something terrible had happened. Alex had been through a lot in his life, so for him to scream like that meant it was something horrible.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As Michael grew closer to where the sound had come from, two figures came into view. One was on top of the other, and they seemed to be fighting. Michael knew immediately that the one on the bottom was Alex, as that awful scream continued to come from his mouth.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey!” Michael cried. “Get off him!” The figure on top startled just enough that Alex was able to drag himself slightly away just as Michael got to them. “Fuck, Alex.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michael pushed the strange man to the ground before slamming to his knees into the dirt beside Alex. Now that he was next to him, Michael could see that Alex was bleeding. He was bleeding a lot, from several different gashes all over his body.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alex?” Michael whispered to the other man. Alex’s eyes were closed and his breathing was heavy. “No, no. You’re okay, you’re okay.” Michael began to apply pressure to the deepest wounds he could find.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He heard other shouts around him and felt other people come to see what the commotion was. Michael leaned over Alex even more as he looked around to find help.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Help me!” Michael begged as he saw both Stiles and Kathra come into view.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What happened?” Stiles asked, panting, as he too slid down and began to try and help Michael stop the bleeding.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t know. I don’t know.” Michael cried, he looked around only to see Kathra helping the strange man, the one Michael had pushed to the side earlier, up to his feet. “No, no. He did this, stop him!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kathra gave Michael a strange look, before turning to the other man and speaking with him. Both Kathra and the other man were now ignoring Michael as he continued to scream for help.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“They were attacking, looking for the wall. Trying to find us. I saw them earlier at the prison, they broke in there too.” The strange man was saying.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michael was barely paying anyone except Alex any attention at this point. Clearly Alex had passed out after dragging himself away from his assailant. Now, as Michael continued to hold pressure and try to stop Alex from losing any more blood, he could tell Alex’s breathing was getting shallower and shallower as the seconds ticked by.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Please help.” He begged once again, looking to Kathra. “He’s my friend, I promise he isn’t here to hurt you. Please, he’s dying.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Go get Rava.” Kathra said to one of the many people now surrounding the scene. She then bent down and joined Michael and Stiles in trying to help Alex. “Rava is our healer, he will come and help.” She explained.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why are we helping them?” The attacker from earlier yelled. “They broke into the prison with guns, they came into our forest to try and find us. They are here to hurt us.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The small crowd gasped at these words and an angry murmur began to come from a few people. Michael could hear as the crowd grew more and more scared and furious with Alex, and himself by extension.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No, this is a misunderstanding. Please, he isn’t trying to hurt you.” Michael yelled. But before he could calm the crowd anymore he felt a terrible stillness take over Alex’s body. “No, no. Alex!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He felt Alex’s neck for a pulse as he realized his partner had stopped breathing, blood still leaving his body in thick pulses. When he couldn’t feel anything at his neck, he turned wide eyes to Kathra and Stiles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I lost his pulse.” Michael said, tears streaming down his face, his eyes begging one of the others to perform some sort of miracle. Kathra looked up and around but didn’t seem to see their healer on their way. Michael knew if he didn’t do anything drastic, and soon, his worst fears were only minutes away.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He pressed harder on Alex’s stomach, Michael’s hands were now stained with blood. He thought about everything he had witnessed Max do and wished desperately for his brother to be there in that moment. If Max were there, he could fix Alex in a heartbeat. He thought of Kyle, how if Kyle were there he would at least know the best thing to do to keep Alex alive long enough to get saved. Michael came to the conclusion that he was the worst person for this situation, that almost anyone else they knew was more able to help Alex. He sobbed loudly over his lover’s body as he began to try and push his heart back into beating.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Please Alex. Don’t die, please.” Michael took a deep breath, and summoned his last hope. He felt his powers, though a bit muffled, come back to him. He gathered every bit of strength he had, and concentrated.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He concentrated on Alex’s heart, he thought about each cut and gouge he could see, and he imagined them healing. He thought about the skin knitting back together and the blood flowing back into his love’s veins. He pictured his heart beating once more, and Alex’s lungs expanding. He channeled every bit of his power into his hands. He had never healed anyone before, he had never even tried really. But Michael was desperate, and he focused everything he had into this.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michael felt as if his body had gone into a tunnel. He could no longer hear the people around him, his vision was growing darker and darker. The only thing he could feel was his hands on Alex, and his powers flowing through him and into his partner.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alex!” Michael screamed one more time before all his power was gone, and he slumped to the ground next to him. Michael was barely conscious as he turned his head and vomited. He could feel someone trying to help him, but shook them off with the last of his energy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michael dragged his head from the ground until it was pressed against Alex’s chest. There was still blood everywhere, but Michael could feel that something had changed. And as he listened, holding his breath, Michael heard Alex’s heart beat in his ear. He felt Alex’s lungs expand, and heard him take a shallow breath.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michael felt more tears drip down his face. He had saved Alex, at least for now. He grabbed Alex’s limp hand, felt his chest move up and down against his cheek again, and then Michael passed out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you enjoy the new chapter!</p>
<p>Only a few chapters left now.</p>
<p>Love to all!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Michael dragged his head from the ground until it was pressed against Alex’s chest. There was still blood everywhere, but Michael could feel that something had changed. And as he listened, holding his breath, Michael heard Alex’s heart beat in his ear. He felt Alex’s lungs expand, and heard him take a shallow breath.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Michael felt more tears drip down his face. He had saved Alex, at least for now. He grabbed Alex’s limp hand, felt his chest move up and down against his cheek again, and then Michael passed out.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michael woke up to a hand patting his face and a muffled voice. He smelled vomit and grass, and as he attempted to blink open his eyes, the memories of Alex’s body came flying back into his head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Michael? Wake up dude.” Said the muffled voice, now becoming clearer. The hand on Michael’s face continued to lightly pat against his cheek, becoming more and more like a slap with each one.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michael grunted and finally opened his eyes. He blinked a few times to help clear his vision, and peered out at the person hitting him. Michael realized the culprit was Stiles, and began to attempt to get up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Woah, dude. Slow down, let me help.” Stiles said as he tried to help Michael into a sitting position.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michael shook off Stiles’ hands as he turned to find Alex. He realized he must have only been unconscious for a minute or two because it seemed like everything was the same. Alex was still laying in the grass next to him, blood still clinging to everything.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alex?” Michael asked, words barely audible, scooting closer and feeling again for a breath or a heartbeat. He felt both and sighed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, dude you saved him.” Stiles said. “At least I think you did, he’s alive, and he’s healing.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?” Michael asked. He pushed open Alex’s shirt to see where a large bleeding gash once was, now looked like a mere cut, and was no longer bleeding. As he watched the cut got a bit smaller, slowly closing up before his eyes. “He’s healing?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, I didn’t know you could do that.” Stiles said quietly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Neither did I.” Michael whispered in awe. “How long was I out?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Only a minute or so.” Stiles said. Then he looked over his shoulder, Michael followed his gaze to the group of aliens still watching them. Kathra, seeing that Michael was awake and their attention was on her, stepped forward.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are you alright?” She asked, voice still calm as ever.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah.” Michael glared at her, still angry that she would not listen to his pleas earlier. “No thanks to you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Before she could offer any other words, Michael heard a gasp from behind and then a hacking cough. He spun around and gaped as Alex woke with a start, coughed some more, and attempted to sit up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alex?” Michael nearly yelled in relief. Alex tried to get up again, looking confused. “You’re okay, you’re okay. Stay down for a minute.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Michael?” Alex’s voice was weak but with every second he seemed to get more and more of his bearings back. “What happened? Where did you come from?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Everything’s fine, you were hurt but you’re okay now.” Michael said, rubbing along Alex’s arm. He wanted to explain everything to Alex, but not in front of all these people, these people who didn’t even try and help.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alex looked alarmed; he sat up and touched different parts of his body, trying to see where the wounds were. He remembered the pain, and the blood slowly leaving him, but now everywhere he looked, his skin seemed to be good as new. There was still slowly drying blood all over him, but he couldn’t find any injuries.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s fine, you’re fine now.” Michael said again, this time catching Alex’s eye. He tried to convey that he would explain later, that right now wasn’t the best time. Alex took a few breaths and nodded. He then looked around confused.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Where’s Kyle? And everyone else?” Alex asked, then his eyes widened as more memories came back. “Where’s Derek? He was hurt.” At this Alex again attempted to get up, only to grunt and remain seated.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?” Stiles asked. “Derek’s hurt?” He looked around, almost lost.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, we need to find them, someone attacked us.” Alex said, not making a lot of sense. “It was like a shadow or something. We were looking for you and we got attacked. Derek got hurt and then I woke up here.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michael looked around again, he saw the man that had attacked Alex earlier slowly back up into the crowd. Michael decided he had more pressing matters and would deal with the man later. Plus, in Michael’s current state he didn’t think he could do more than yell at the man. Before Michael could say anything he saw Stiles stand up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Take down the wall.” Stiles said, icy rage evident in his voice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“As we said before, that simply is too dangerous.” Kathra said again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t care what you said before.” Stiles said through gritted teeth. “You’re man attacked and hurt my friends. My friends who have no intention of harming you. We have confirmation that they are just on the other side, and that Derek is hurt. So, I will ask nicely one more time. Take down the wall.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “It isn’t just you we are protecting ourselves from. I’m sorry but taking down the wall is too risky. As I’ve said, you are welcome to leave and go attend to your friends but you will not be permitted back inside.” Kathra reiterated. “I’m still not too sure how you got in, in the first place, so I’m afraid I can’t have a mistake like that occur again.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael stared at Stiles, about to say, that it didn’t matter, they could leave, get the information another way or just forget about it. This wasn’t worth the death of anyone. But before he could say any of that, Michael saw something change in the man standing before him. It was a small change, his body language, his expression, subtle things. But Michael had never seen Stiles look like this before.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “I asked nicely. But now, I guess it’s up to me.” Stiles nearly growled at Kathra. “I’m pretty sure I know why I was able to see your wall, and get inside. But let’s find out.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Before anyone could make a move, Stiles had stepped up to where they knew the wall was and extended his hand. He closed his eyes in concentration, as everyone looked on with differing expressions. Most of the aliens looked confused, scared, or just annoyed. But Michael knew what it looked like when someone had power and were about to use it. Alex looked on in confusion as well, pretty sure that Stiles was human, but knowing, as Michael did, what pure determination looked like.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            As everyone watched, frozen, a rip appeared. It had ragged edges, almost like a piece of burning paper, but expanding outwards. It grew until it was wide and tall enough to pass through.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Michael could see figures on the other side, but couldn’t make out any faces. He looked back at Stiles in awe and saw that the man in question had changed. His eyes were now glowing a silvery white with power.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Now all he had to worry about was trying to find and help his two missing partners. He didn’t know if Michael was hurt, or even still alive, and he knew if Alex was as bad as Derek, he would need to get help soon, or Kyle would lose him forever.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I can’t lose them both.” Kyle whispered, looking around. Now that Derek seemed to be healed, though he was still on the ground resting, Kyle knew he needed to act fast.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?” Scott asked from a few paces away.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We need to move fast, we have to be able to do something.” Kyle said, begging the universe to give him this. “I can’t lose them both.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Dude, I get it, but what are we supposed to do? Nothing we tried last time worked, what can we do this time?” Scott replied.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So, what? We give up?” Kyle growled. “Alex!” He yelled toward the place he saw him disappear.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And, as if the universe heard his plea, Kyle saw something. A spot, slowly expanding, haloed by an orange glow. And as he watched, and as it grew, he thought he could see people.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Do you see that?” Kyle asked the group, who seemed to be concentrated back on helping Derek to his feet and had yet to notice anything.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?” Scott asked, looking around. He seemed to notice it then. “Woah, what’s that?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What the fuck?” Jackson said, also looking confused at the rip in reality, now large enough to see several figures through.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What is that?” Lydia asked, curiosity and fear warring on her face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I think that’s Stiles.” Derek said, voice raspy from screaming, finally getting to his feet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Without another thought, Kyle grabbed up Alex’s gear from the ground, looked back at the others and ran through the whole. At this point it no longer mattered if this was dangerous, it seemed like his only option. He heard the others yell his name from behind, but could only stare ahead at the scene now in front of him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As soon as he reached the other side of the rip, Kyle nearly screamed in relief. He saw a lot of people around, but his eyes zeroed in on the man directly in front of him: Michael.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Michael?” He breathed out, slowly stepping forward towards the man. Before either of them could say another word, Kyle’s foot collided with something on the ground and he looked down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Before him was a body, a body covered in blood. Kyle’s breath hitched when he realized it was Alex, looking as though he had been put through a meat grinder.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alex!” Kyle fell to his knees, quickly looking over Alex, his head back in doctor mode, as he tried to assess the damage.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m okay.” Alex said quickly, grabbing Kyle’s searching hands. “I’m okay.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re covered in blood, I saw you get hurt.” Kyle said, still attempting to give medical aid to Alex.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Kyle stop.” Alex said, this time his voice much stronger. “Michael healed me. I’m okay, he healed me.” With that, Kyle looked into Alex’s eyes in confusion, but saw nothing but truth there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He healed you?” He asked, but before Alex could even open his mouth again, Kyle turned his head up to Michael. “You healed him?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah.” Michael said, confusion still on his face, now joined by Kyle’s similar expression.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Before any of them could say anything else, and before Kyle could take in his surroundings or figure out who the many other people standing around them were, they heard a commotion from behind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Stiles was now closing the tear he had just created. His eyes were slowly turning back to their natural honey brown as his power slowly faded. The rest of the group seemed to have followed Kyle inside and were now all glancing around, hackles and weapons raised.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Derek?” Stiles asked. Looking at the blood covering the man being supported by Isaac. “You okay?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He’s healing.” Scott said before Derek could speak.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Derek rolled his eyes and slowly made his way over to Stiles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I found you.” Derek muttered in his gruff voice, sighing into Stiles’ arms.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Stiles snorted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sure you did.” Stiles said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Excuse me, gentlemen.” Kathra said from a few yards away. “I do not know exactly what you just did, but you all need to leave. Now.” Her stern look had turned to one of fear and anger.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And who the fuck are you?” Jackson snarled, stepping forward immediately.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Jackson, stop.” Stiles growled. He turned back to the group of aliens standing before them, all now with surprise and fury on their faces, looking at Stiles in awe. “Kathra, I did warn you. I promise none of our people will harm anyone of yours, but you need to listen to us.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>All of the wolves frowned at Stiles’ words, and Allison slowly lowered her bow, looking a bit put out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Listen to you?” Jovin asked, anger loud in his tone. “You just broke our defenses, that is an act of war. You are lucky we have not killed you on the spot.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>At his words the many aliens around him stared to nod their heads or mutter agreements.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alex slowly got up, trying to put Michael and Kyle behind him, looking as if he was preparing for battle. The wolves all snarled, and their eyes began to glow again. The feeling of impending battle began to fill the small area.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Stop.” Michael said. He cleared his throat, when no one seemed to pay him any attention. “Stop.” This time he yelled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His sudden exclamation caused all eyes to fall on him. Michael straightened his back, found Kathra’s gaze and tried to think of what he could say to end this standoff without any more bloodshed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michael looked back at Alex, covered in blood, and Kyle helping him stand. He looked over at Derek and Stiles, and all the rest of their small group, and realized that though they were powerful, they would not win against all the aliens.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We’ll leave.” Michael muttered. He heard someone gasp ‘What?’ from behind him. “I’m sorry, we were never here to hurt you, only to get answers, but we’ll leave.” His heart just couldn’t do it anymore, he was tired, and now that all of his friends were back together he just wanted them to leave safely even if that meant he couldn’t find what he had come for.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Um, fuck that.” Stiles said, a sneer in his voice, “After all this we aren’t leaving without our answers, we didn’t do all this just to leave.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You will leave or you will die.” Jovin said through his teeth.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I bet we’ll take a bunch of you with us though.” Alex said darkly, “Want to risk it will be you?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Be quiet.” Kathra broke in. “No one will die here.” She peered at Michael’s broken expression, and around at the intruders that seemed to be loyal to a fault. She sighed, mirroring Michael’s need to keep her own people safe despite their best efforts. “I will make you all a deal. You leave now.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She paused at this as Jackson, Stiles, and Alex all began to protest. She put her hand up to silence them so that she could continue.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You leave now, and no harm will be done. And tomorrow, I will meet you in Beacon Hills and we will talk.” She said this directly to Michael, ignoring the others.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jovin started to protest, but Kathra again put a hand up, halting his words. Aliens and wolves alike looked on in annoyance as Michael and Kathra continued to ignore their mutterings of disapproval.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michael took a breath, it was the best he could hope for, safety for his friends, and a small hope that he could somehow still find answers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Fine. We leave, you meet us at the diner in town at noon tomorrow.” He said nodding, slowly stepping toward Kathra and extending his hand. She took it and shook as she looked into his eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Fine.” She agreed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michael turned and glared, pointing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Let’s go.” He said, eyes conveying he would not take no for an answer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With anger, confusion, and in Michael’s case, desperation, he was able to herd his people away from the aliens and out, back through the invisible barrier they had come through, and back into the forest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>No one spoke as the traipsed back through the woods. Michael and Kyle helping Alex, and Stiles taking Derek’s waist. They were all too tired, adrenalin leaving them, and too wrapped up in everything that had happened that day.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When they finally reached the cars, all eyes returned to Michael.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Come back to the den. We need to talk.” Derek said, Stiles nodding next to him. Scott even turned red eyes on Michael to get the importance of the message across.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah okay. Meet you there.” Michael said, as he and Alex collapsed into the backseat and Kyle took the wheel.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The other SUV was soon filled and kicking up gravel as it headed back towards Beacon Hills. As Kyle began to follow behind, Michael stared out the window, out into the dense forest, and hoped he had done the right thing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you enjoy the new chapter, I realize the last one ended on a bit of a cliffhanger.</p>
<p>Kudos and Comments, as always, loved and cherished.</p>
<p>Love to all!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>First fic I have actually published, ever. Please give me feedback if you can.</p><p>I have an outline for the whole thing but it is not completely written. I will hopefully update once every few days but as this is my first time publishing that could change.</p><p>Thanks and love to all!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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